The Last of Us: Surviving
by Gamingnerd23
Summary: Ethan is the nephew of Tess and has grown up in a world nearly destroyed by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, a fungus that originally only affected ants but had evolved and started affecting humans. How will Ethan react when he finds out a girl by the name of Ellie is not affected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and what will he do in order to protect her.
1. Chapter 1

**The Last of Us: Surviving**

The Last of Us belongs to Naughty Dog the only thing that belongs to me is the OC

Chapter 1

 _Ethan is a 14 year old boy and the nephew of Tess, who has been taking care of him for the past 6 years. He has longish brown hair with brown eyes, he's wearing a hoodie with an undershirt and jeans along with a pair of sneakers, all dirty and worn out. He was staying with Joel since Tess is out_

Bang!

Bang!

"Coming!" said Ethan

Bang!

"Aunt Tess! Seriously I'm coming!" said Ethan

He opens the door and a woman who looked just like him (both sharing a hardened yet friendly looking face) walked in. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a drink

"Hey Joel! Aunt Tess is here and she looks pretty beat up." said Ethan

Joel grumbles that he's getting up

"How was your morning, Ethan?" said Tess

"Boring I guess… yours looks like it was pretty interesting." said Ethan indicating the cuts and bruises

"Yeah, I suppose it was. Lord… we really need to cut that hair." said Tess commenting on Ethan's hair

"What's wrong with it?" asked Ethan touching his hair

"It's getting too long is what." said Tess pulling on a strand

Just then Joel enters

"Want one?" asked Tess indicating her drink

"No, I don't... want one." said Joel

"Well, I have some interesting news for you." said Tess

"Where were you, Tess?" said Joel cutting Tess off

"West End district. Hey, we had a drop to make." said Tess

"WE. We had a drop to make." said Joel

"Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone, remember?" remarked Tess

Ethan started padding Tess's wounds with a rag

"Well, you could have taken him with you." said Joel looking at Ethan

"I wouldn't want him getting hurt." said Tess

"The boy can handle himself... mostly." said Joel and receives a look from Tess

Joel just signs and changes the subject

"So, I'll take one guess. The whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills. Is that about right?" said Joel

"Deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months easy." said Tess throwing some ration cards on the table

"Where's the part where… this happened." said Ethan indicating her cuts and bruises

"I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes alright? Yeah, they got a few good hits in. But... Look, I managed. But that doesn't matter what does matter is that Robert sent them." explained Tess

"Our Robert?" asked Joel

"Yeah, he know we're after him." said Tess

"Son of bitch is smart." remarked Ethan

They both gave him a look mostly Tess

"Excuse me?" said Tess

"What? It's the truth." said Ethan

"No, it's not and watch your language." said Tess giving Ethan a glare who just raised his hands in surrender

"You know where he's hiding?" asked Joel

"Old warehouse in Area 5… can't say for how long, though." responded Tess

"Well, I'm ready now. Yeah?" said Joel

"Oh, I can do now." said Tess

"Cool me too." said Ethan

Tess gave him a look

"No." said Tess

"Come on! I can't stay hold up forever, no one stays a kid forever in this world. Besides I've gone out with Joel a couple of times." said Ethan

"Kid's got a point." said Joel earing him a glare

"Fine, but you stay behind me and do what we say when we say." said Tess

"Is that the best I'm gonna get?" asked Ethan

"Take it or leave it." said Tess

"Then I'll take it." said Ethan shrugging

The trio left the apartment and began navigating the city

"The checkpoint's still open." said Tess

"Only got a few hours left until curfew." said Joel

"We better hurry up then." said Ethan

"Attention. Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory." said the loudspeaker

"Look at that. Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again." said Tess

"Seems like more people are gettin' infected." said Ethan

"That just means more people are sneakin' out." said Joel

"I got us all new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there. Just play it cool." said Tess as they were nearing the checkpoint

"Please, I'm the definition of cool." said Ethan

Tess just scoffs and ruffles his hair

"Let me see you're IDs." said the guard when they approached the checkpoint

"There you go." said Joel as he hands the Guard they're IDs

"What's your business here?" said the guard

"Got the day off. Visiting a friend." said Joel

"Alright, move on through." said the guard

"Thanks." said Joel

As soon as they enter an explosion occurs causing all of them to stumble back with Ethan nearly falling

"Fireflies!" screamed a guard

The trio then ran into an apartment to take refuge in

"Fuck... so much for the easy route. Patch yourself up, alright?" said Tess to Joel

"Are you alright?" said Tess to Ethan

"Yeah, I'm good." said Ethan reassuringly

"They're gonna close all the checkpoints. We're gonna have to go around the outside." said Tess

"Outside the wall?" asked Joel

"Or we could just let Robert go." suggested Tess

"Cute." said Joel

They enter an ally

"Hey Tess, you see that shit?" said a man

"I was there. Hey, how's the east tunnel looking?" asked Tess

"It's clear. I just used it. No patrols. Where you off to?" asked the man

"Gonna pay Robert a visit." answered Tess

"You too?" replied the man

"Who else is looking for him?" asked Tess

"Uh, Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him." answered the man

"Marlene? What do the Fireflies need with Robert?" asked Tess

"You think she'd tell me?" asked the man

"Well, what did you tell her?" asked Tess

"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding." answered the man

"Good man. Hey, you stay outta trouble, alright? Military's gonna be out in force soon." said Tess

"Yeah… see you around." said the man

The trio then walk away and start talking once more

"Marlene lookin' for Robert? What do you make of that?" said Tess

"I don't like it. We better find him before the Fireflies do." said Joel

They then enter an apartment

"This is us." said Tess

"Hey guys. How's it going?" said a man

"Shit's stirring up out there? How we lookin' over here?" asked Tess

"Ah, it's been quiet. No signs of military or infected." said the man

"That's what I like to hear. Joel, Ethan, give me a hand with this." said Tess

They move an entertainment center that hides tunnel access.

"Y'all take it easy out there." said the man

They all jump down

"Agh, this place reeks. They need to watch what they throw away down here." said Tess

Tess then go and turns on the generator

"Let there be light. Let's grab our gear. Our backpacks are still here from last time." said Tess

"Not a lot of ammo." said Joel when he picked up his stuff

"You can take mine." offered Ethan since his gun is the same as Joel's

Joel was about to take before Tess spoke up

"Ethan." said Tess

"Yes, Aunt Tess?" said Ethan

"How'd you get a gun?" asked Tess

"I found it?" said Ethan

Tess looks to Joel

"I might have given him one…" said Joel

"What?" said Tess

"Hey, Aunt Tess it's nothing to get worked up over. Joel said it's only for emergencies." said Ethan trying to defend Joel

"It better be, keep your ammo just in case something does happen." said Tess

"Well, better make your shots count." said Ethan to Joel

"That's real funny coming from you." said Joel with a chuckle as he walked away

Ethan grumbled to himself and went over to Tess and Joel

"Alright, Texas. Boost me up. You ready?" asked Tess to Joel

"Yes, ma'am." said Joel

He then lifts up Tess and does the same for Ethan

"C'mon." said Tess

Tess and Ethan pull him up over the wall and they exit into an old shop

"Go on you two." said Joel in regards to the wooden plank he just held up

"Got it." said Tess and Ethan who held the plank so Joel could climb up

They then put the cover over the hidden exit

"Be careful." said Joel when putting down the cover

"When am I not?" asked Tess

Joel just scoffs while Ethan chuckles behind his hand

"That a trick question?" asked Joel

They then walk into an overgrown suburb

"Ain't been out here in a while." remarked Joel

"It's like we're on a date." said Tess

"Well I am the romantic type." said Joel

"You got your ways." said Tess

"Get a room you two." said Ethan which earned a chuckle from Joel and Tess

"Where's the ladder?" asked Tess

"It's gotta be around here somewhere. Got it." said Joel

"Great. Bring it over." said Ethan

"Ladies first." said Joel to Tess

"Lady? You must be thinking of someone else." said Tess with a smirk

"It's all relative." said Joel also with a smirk

"God, I'm going to puke." muttered Ethan

They all climb into the old apartment complex

"This way. Down through here. You think Robert's still got our guns?" said Tess

"It's doubtful, from what I've heard of Robert." said Ethan

"For his sake...he better." muttered Joel

"Look, once we get our merchandise back, it should be easy to unload." said Tess

"Speaking of merchandise…" said Joel but is interrupted by Ethan

"Please no more flirting…" begged Ethan

"That wasn't what I meant, I was gonna say when's the next shipment due?" said Joel

"Well, we're meeting Bill next month, more pills, lots of ammo, supposedly." said Tess

"Yeah, well he always shows up with somethin'. Should keep us busy for a while." said Joel

While walking they find a passage filled with fungal spores. The three of them put gas masks on

"Hold up. Spores." Said Tess

"Where the hell are all these comin' from? Place was clear last time." said Joel

"They must be coming out of something... or someone." said Ethan

"Stay alert." said Tess

While moving through the passage they find a body on the floor with spores coming out of it

"There's the culprit." said Ethan walking closer to the body

"Body's not that old. Better keep your eyes and ears open." said Tess

"Ethan, get away from that thing." said Joel

"What? I'm not gonna touch it, just wanna get a closer look. You know if the world didn't turn to shit… I mean crap, I think I would've become a biologist or something." said Ethan

"That so?" asked Tess

"Yeah, this stuff is interesting." said Ethan

"Well come on, we should be able to fit through here. Oh, shit." said Joel when the roof partially collapsed

"You okay?" asked Tess

"Yeah. Damn ceiling's falling apart. Be careful. This way. Easy..." said Joel as they all slid through

While sliding through the crack an infected person grabs Joel's leg

"Help me... My mask broke. Don't... don't leave me to turn. Please." begged the infected person

"What you want to do?" asked Tess to Joel

Joel pulls out his handgun and shoots him in the head

"Poor guy." muttered Ethan

They heard a noise in front of them

"Up ahead. You hear that?" said Tess

"Shh, shh, shh." mumbled Joel

"How you wanna handle it?" whispered Tess

Joel turns to Ethan and motions for him to follow, Ethan turns to Tess to see if it's okay with her. She thinks for a moment and decides he needs to learn this kind of stuff, so she motioned him to follow Joel

"Hey, you see it right there." whispered Joel pointing at the infected near them

"Kinda hard not to." whispered Ethan

"See what I do, then do it to the one over there." whispered Joel pointing to the other one

"Okay, got it." whispered Ethan

Joel went up behind the infected and started strangling it till it went limp, Ethan moves to the other one and dose the same. They continue to that to every infected in their area

"Alright, that's all of 'em." said Tess

"Let's hope so." said Joel patting Ethan on the shoulder which caused Ethan to smile under his gas mask because he secretly looked up to Joel

"Let's head back into the city." said Tess

They leave the infested passage and back to the outside

"Ahhh...some fresh air. That's the one thing I love about the outside. Fuckin' hate the smell of the city." said Tess

"Why don't you ask Bill to get you some of them air fresheners?" asked Joel

"That'd be a good idea…" said Tess

"If they weren't expired." finished Ethan

"Come on, through here." said Tess indicating a false wall

"Cover the entrance." said Tess when they were in

"I got it." said Joel

They walk deeper in and discover their plank fell

"Damn it. Plank fell down. Be a dear, would you?" said Tess

Ethan proceeds to walk but is stopped by Tess

"Not you." said Tess

"I'll get it." said Joel with a sign

"Here. Pass it to me." said Tess when Joel came with the plank in hand

"Sure you don't want Ethan to do it? It's a bit heavy." said Joel with a teasing tone

"I think I can handle it." said Tess

"Alright." said Joel

"Get your ass up here. Let's move." said Tess to Joel

"Bossy today." muttered Joel

"She's bossy every day." muttered Ethan which earned a chuckle from Joel

"What's so funny?" asked Tess

"Nothing." "Nothing." said Ethan and Joel at the same time

They all near a street near their destination

"Let's make sure there aren't any soldiers around." said Joel

"It's clear. Come on." said Tess

They then enter a corner apartment

"Shut the door. Pick up that ammo. I'm sure we'll need it." said Tess

Tess then knocks on a far door and a child acting as a lookout approaches

"Hey, little man. Make sure the coast is clear." asked Tess

The kid leaves and they wait for him to return

"You do know Robert's expecting us right?" said Joel

"That just makes it more interesting." said Tess

The kid then returns and opens the door

"No soldiers. None of Robert's men. Yeah?" asked Tess

The kid nods and Tess gives him a ration card for payment. The three of them then enter a more civilized part of town

"Hey Tess, hey Tess. Hey, pretty lady, how you doin' today?" asked Terence

"Not right now, Terence." said Tess

"No, no, it's good." said Terence

"Not...now. You hear me?" said Tess with more authority in her tone

"Okay. I can do that. Don't get all huffy-puffy about it." said Terence

While walking they enter a bus with a man in it

"Where do you think you're goin'?" said Malick to Joel and Ethan

"Malick. Sit back down." said Tess

"Oh sorry, Tess. Didn't realize you three were together. Go ahead." said Malick

"Who's that?" asked Ethan

"An old headache. Don't ask." answered Tess

They then meet a man standing near a gate and Tess hands him a ration card

"I'm lookin' for Robert. He come through here?" asked Tess

"Half hour ago. He went back to the wharf. He's there now." answered the man

After that they encounter some of Robert's thugs

"Here we go." mumbled Joel

"Let us through." said Tess

"You guys need to turn around and head back if you know what's good for you." said the thug

"Our beef isn't with you. We just want Robert. You don't want to do this." reasoned Tess

"Turn the fuck around and leave now." said the thug once more

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" shouted Ethan walking up to the thug

"Kid, I will bash your skull in unless you turn around and get your dumb ass outta here." Said the thug pushing Ethan back

"You don't touch my nephew fucker!" said Tess as she shot the thug in the head

"Take cover!" yelled another thug

"You ready?" said Tess

"Yeah." said Joel

"Ethan, stay down and let me and Joel handle this." said Tess

"Okay." said Ethan

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill you!" shouted another thug

"I'll cover you. Get the angle on them." said Tess to Joel who nodded and went to flank them

Soon after Joel and Tess handle Robert's thugs

"Nicely done, Texas." said Tess

"You too. How the hell did he get all these guys?" asked Joel

"If Robert's good at one thing, it's writing blank checks. Let's go put an end to that." said Tess

They encounter a looked fence

"Shit. Not goin' through here. Hey. Boost me up." said Tess

"Alright, c'mon..." said Joel

"Give us your hand. There you go." said Tess

"Alright." said Joel

"Over here, Joel." said Tess

They get past the locked fence and find more sentries

"More of Robert's guys." said Tess

"Shit, I see them." said Joel

"How do you know they're comin'?" asked a sentry

"Two of our guys died trying to take Tess out. I guarantee that she and Joel and some kid are on their way, right now, to get Robert." answered the other sentry

"Jesus, we shouldn't have taken this job." said a sentry

"Not our call. Let's spread out and make sure no one's creeping around here." said the other sentry

"Let's try to keep it nice and quiet." said Tess

The trio then proceeded to go through the hideout and take out the goons and seeing/scaring Robert along the way, who happens to make a run for it but is caught in a corner

"Hello, Robert." said Tess

"Tess, Joel. Ethan right? No hard feelings, am I right?" said Robert

"None at all." said Tess

Tess clubs his kneecap as Robert tries to run past her

"Ahh... goddammit!" screamed Robert clutching his knee

"We missed you." said Tess

"Look, whatever it is you heard, it ain't true, okay? I just want to say…" said Robert but is cut off

"The guns. You wanna tell us where the guns are?" asked Tess

"Yeah, sure, but... it's complicated. Alright? Look, alright, just hear me out on this. I gotta…" said Robert but is cut off again as Joel kicks him in the face and then goes to break his arm

"Fuck... Ah, stop, stop, stop!" screamed Robert

"Quit your squirmin'. You were saying?" said Tess

"I sold 'em." said Robert

"Excuse me?" said Tess in shock and disbelief

"I didn't have much of a choice. I owed someone." reasoned Robert

"You owed us. I say you bet on the wrong horse." said Tess

"I just need more time. Just gimme a week." said Robert

"You know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me." said Tess

"C'mon, it wasn't like…" said Robert but is cut off once more

"Who has our guns?" said Tess

"I can't. Just gimme a couple days…" said Robert but is cut off as Joel breaks his arm

"Ahh! Fucking..." said Robert

"Who has our guns?" said Tess once more

"It's the Fireflies. I owed the Fireflies." said Robert

"What?" said Tess

"Look, they're basically all dead. We can just… Just go in there, finish 'em off. We get the guns. Whaddya say? C'mon. Fuck those Fireflies. Let's go get 'em." reasoned Robert

"That is a stupid idea." said Tess as she loaded two rounds in Robert's head

"Well, now what?" said Joel

"We go get our merchandise back." said Tess

"How?" asked Ethan

"I don't know. We explain it to them. Look, let's go find a Firefly." said Tess

"You won't have to look very far." said a voice who revels herself to be a woman with a bullet wound in her side

"There you go: queen Firefly." said Joel

"Why are you here?" asked Marlene

"Business." answered Tess

"Are you okay? We have some bandages." asked Ethan as he went up to her to help her with her wound

"I'm fine, but thanks for asking." said Marlene with a small smile

"Where's Robert?" asked Marlene

Tess steps back to reveal his corpse, which causes Marlene to give a humorless chuckle

"I needed him alive." said Marlene plainly

"The guns he gave you, they weren't his to sell. I want them back." said Tess

"Doesn't work like that, Tess." said Marlene

"The hell it doesn't." said Tess

"I paid for those guns." said Marlene

"We can reach an agreement right?" asked Ethan looking around

"How many cards do you want?" said Tess

"I don't give a damn about ration cards. I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that...I'll give you your guns and then some." said Marlene

"How do we know you got 'em? Way I hear it, the military been wiping you guys out." said Joel crossing his arms

"You're right about that. I'll show you the weapons." said Marlene

"Are you sure we shouldn't bandage you up or something?" asked Ethan

"I'll be fine." answered Marlene

"Search the area." said a voice

"Yes, sir." said another

"I gotta move. What's it gonna be?" said Marlene

"I wanna see those guns." said Tess and Joel nodded in agreement

"Follow me." said Marlene

After encountering some solders and sneaking past them or shooting them up, they find themselves in a back room of a warehouse when Marlene starts to stumble

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... are you alright?" said Ethan as he goes to reach for her but is pushed back by a girl

"Get the fuck away from her!" shouted the girl as she grabs Ethan and holds him up with a knife

"Hey, hey, hey." said Tess grabbing the girl off of Ethan

"Let her go." said Marlene

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't ya?" said Joel

"She's not one of mine." said Marlene

"Shit. What happened?" said the girl as she notices Marlene's wound

"Don't worry. This is fixable." said Marlene

"Damn right it's fixable! I'm not taking no for an answer anymore, sit down and let me have a look." said Ethan with authority in his voice

Marlene looks to Joel and Tess who pretty much tell her with their eyes that he won't budge

"Alright." said Marlene as she sat down and took off her jacket so Ethan could get a proper look at it

"Alright, looks like the bullet went through. Which means I won't need to get the pliers out, which believe me is a good thing since my plier skills aren't the best." said Ethan with a sheepish grin

Marlene chuckled softly with Joel muttering something about "That's an understatement"

"Sit back and I'll stich you up." said Ethan with another smile

And the girl gives him a small smile in return

"I got us help... but I can't come with you." said Marlene to the girl as Ethan was stitching her wound

"Well then I'm staying." said the girl with the smile going away and being replaced by a demanding look

"Ellie, we won't get another shot at this." reasoned Marlene

"Hey… we're smuggling her?" realized Joel

"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building." said Marlene

"That's not exactly close." said Tess

"You're capable. You hand her off, come back, the weapon are yours. Double what Robert sold me." said Marlene

"Speaking of which, where are they?" asked Tess

"Back in our camp." said Marlene

"We're not smuggling shit until I see them." said Tess

"You'll follow me. You can verify the weapons, after Ethan's done patching me up. But she's not crossing that part of town. I want Joel and Ethan to watch over her." said Marlene

"Whoa, whoa. I don't think that's the best idea." said Joel

"Why?" asked Ethan as he looked up at Joel

"Bullshit! I'm not going with him." said Ellie while pointing at Joel

"Ellie..." said Marlene

"How do you know them?" asked Ellie

"I was close with his brother, Tommy. Said if I was ever in a jam I could rely on him." said Marlene

"Was that before or after he left your little militia group?" said Joel

"He left you too. He was a good man." said Marlene

"What about them?" asked Ellie pointing at Tess and Ethan

"I know Tess from Joel and I know Ethan from Tess because he's her nephew." said Marlene

"Look, just take her to the north tunnel and wait for me there." said Tess to Joel

"Jesus Christ." muttered Joel

"She's just cargo, Joel." reasoned Tess

"Marlene..." said Ellie

"No more talking. You'll be fine." said Marlene to Ellie

She then turned to Ethan

"Are you done?" asked Marlene

"Yep, after this heals you'll have a badass jagged scar that everyone will be impressed by!" said Ethan with a thumbs up which earned a smile from Marlene

"Thanks. Now Ellie go with them, please." said Marlene and Ellie nodded

"Don't take long. And you two stay close, let's go." said Joel

Ellie, Ethan, and Joel set off together and immediately find Firefly corpses

"Whoa...I heard all the shooting, but... what happened?" asked Ellie

"The Fireflies. Same thing's gonna happen to us if we don't get off the street." answered Joel

"You're the pro. I'm just following you." said Ellie

While walking Ellie walks up to Ethan

"Look, I'm sorry for trying to... you know... stab you." said Ellie

"Don't worry about it, let's just start over. I'm Ethan." said Ethan with a smile and stretching out his hand

"I'm Ellie." said Ellie with a smile and shaking his hand

"Attention. Harboring or aiding wanted criminals is punishable by death. Do not place yourself at risk. Report any suspicious activity immediately." said a loudspeaker

"Down here." said Joel indicating a stairway next to the street

"C'mon, keep up." said Joel

"I am." "I am." said Ellie and Ethan

They enter a deserted apartment yard

"So, where are we going?" asked Ellie

"Up there, that'll get us to the north tunnel." answered Ethan

"How are we supposed to reach that?" asked Ellie

"Just gimme a minute." Said Joel as goes and moves a dumpster, using it as a makeshift stepping stone.

"This tunnel... you use it to smuggle things?" said Ellie

"Yep." said Joel

"Like illegal things?" said Ellie

"Sometimes." answered Joel

"You ever smuggle a kid before?" asked Ellie

"No. That's a first. So what's the deal with you and Marlene, anyways?" said Joel

"I don't know. She's my friend, I guess." answered Ellie

"Your friend, huh? You're friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What're you, like twelve?" said Joel

"She knew my mom, and she's been looking after me. And I'm fourteen, not that that has anything to do with anything." said Ellie

"Fourteen huh? Ethan keep your hands to yourself." said Joel which causes Ethan to blush like crazy and Ellie to laugh

"I have self-control thank you very much!" said Ethan as a matter of fact

"So where are your parents?" asked Joel changing the subject

"Where are anyone's parents? They've been gone a long, long time." answered Ellie

"Hm. So instead of just staying in school, you decide to run off and join the Fireflies, is that it?" said Joel

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling me, if that's what you're getting at." said Ellie

"You wanna know the best thing about my job? I don't gotta know why. Be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to." said Joel

"Well great." muttered Ellie

"Good." said Joel

They make it to the rendezvous point

"This is it." Said Joel as he lays back on a couch and closes his eyes

"What are you doing?" said Ellie

"Killing time." said Joel

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" said Ellie

"I am sure the two of you will figure that out." answered Joel

"Your watch is broken." said Ellie but doesn't get a response

"Your watch…" said but is interrupted by Ethan placing his hand on her shoulder and shaking his head

"What?" asked Ellie confused

"It's personal, don't worry about it. Come on let's play a game or something." said Ethan

Joel wakes up later and it's nighttime with rain pouring down. Ellie and Ethan are looking out of the window when they realize Joel has woken up

"You mumble in your sleep, I hate bad dreams." said Ellie

"Yeah, me too." said Joel who goes to check the door

"You know, I've never been this close, to the outside. Look how dark it is. Can't be any worse out there. Can it?" said Ellie to Ethan

"What do the Fireflies want with you?" said Ethan

Just then Joel opens the door with Tess walking in

"Aunt Tess! What took you so long?" asked Ethan

"Sorry it took so long. Soldiers fuckin' everywhere." answered Tess

"How's Marlene?" asked Ellie

"She's fine thanks to Ethan. I saw the merchandise. It's a lot. Wanna do this?" said Tess

"Yeah." said Joel

"Ok, let's go." said Tess

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that they're askin' us to do their smuggling?" said Joel

"Marlene wanted to do it herself. We weren't the first choice, or the second for that matter. She's lost a lot of men. Beggars can't be choosers." said Tess

"Yeah, let's just hope there's someone alive to pay us." said Joel

"Someone will be around. Come on." said Tess

They all walk to an elevator and begin their descent down

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**The Last of Us: Surviving**

The Last of Us belongs to Naughty Dog the only thing that belongs to me is the OC

Wow! I didn't expect to get any feedback for this story! I originally did this because I thought it sounded cool and was currently having problems of thinking of ideas for my other story that I'm currently doing. So I guess I'll be making this story a priority of mine! I hope you enjoy and have a happy New Year!

Chapter 2

Currently Tess, Joel, Ellie, and Ethan are going down an elevator

"So who's waitin' for us at the drop-off?" asked Tess

"She said there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city. Girl must be important. What is the deal with you? You some bigwig's daughter or something?" answered Tess

"Something like that. How long is this all gonna take?" said Ellie

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to them in a few hours. Ellie, once we get out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close." said Tess

"Yeah, of course." said Ellie

They make it to the Outskirts entrance

"Joel, climb up and check if the coast is clear." said Tess as Joel climbs up

"Now hold up. There's a patrol up ahead." said Joel

They all wait for the patrol to pass

"Alright, we're good. Come on up. C'mon, kids. Watch your step." said Joel to Ellie and Ethan

He then covers the passage and they begin making their way to the drop-off

"This rain isn't going to help us at all." muttered Ethan as pulled his hood up

"Holy shit, I'm actually outside." said Ellie in disbelief

"You mentioned that back at the apartment. Have you never been outside before?" asked Ethan

"Not really, Marlene never really let me go outside." answered Ellie

"It's lucky for you that I'm a great tour guide. As you can see to your left, there is a pile of rubble which happens to lie next to more rubble and who can possibly forget the deserted trailer up ahead." said Ethan which earned him a chuckle from Ellie

"Come on, up this way." said Joel as he took the lead and entered the trailer

Once they made it to the end, a guard goes up behind Joel and knocks him down with her gun

"Don't do anything stupid." said the female guard as she held a gun pointed at Ethan and Ellie

"Move." Said the male guard

"Turn around. On your knees. You scan 'em. I'll call it in." said the female guard

"Alright. Put your hands on your head." said the male guard to which they all complied

"This is Ramirez at Sector Twelve. Requesting pickup for three stragglers. Understood." said the female guard to her radio

"Look the other way. We can make this worth your while." Said Tess

"Shut up." said the male guard

The guard then started to scan them

"I'm getting tired of this shit." Said the male guard

"Mm-hmm." Said the female guard in agreement

"What's the ETA?" asked the male guard

"Couple a minutes." answered the female guard

"Oh man, oh man." muttered Ellie as the male guard came to her with the scanner

She then grabs the male guard's leg and stabs him with her switchblade

"Sorry!" said Ellie as she try to grab his gun but gets pushed back by him

Joel then tackles the male guard as the female guard points her gun at him but is shot in the side of the head by Ethan. Joel then finishes the male by shooting him with his own gun, Ethan drops his gun and then pukes

"Fuck! I just killed a person! I've killed infected but…" said Ethan

"Shh, the first time is never easy. But it does get easier over time." said Tess as she rubs his back

"Is that a good thing?" asked Ethan

"No… no it's not." answered Tess in a quiet voice

"It's like you said, no one stays a kid forever in this world." said Joel solemnly

Meanwhile Ellie is leaning on a crate with her head in her hands

"Oh… oh fuck. I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something." said Ellie as Ethan went and kneeled down by her to see if she's okay… physically anyway

"Oh, shit. Ethan come here right now." said Tess in a serious tone

"What's going on…" said Ethan but is interrupted as Tess grabs his arm and pulls him to her side

Tess then throws the infection scanner to Joel, which is flashing positive

"Jesus Christ! Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?" shouted Joel

"I'm not infected." said Ellie in a panic

"No? So this is lying?" said Joel as he throws the scanner at her

"Guys, come on. Think about it why would Marlene send us with someone who's infected? It doesn't make any sense and I may not know Marlene as well as you two, but she doesn't seem like the type of person who would set us up." said Ethan as he stood in front of Ellie waving his arms franticly while Ellie is behind staring at him in disbelief

'He's defending me?' thought Ellie as she stared at Ethan

"Hey, I could use some back up here!" whispered Ethan nervous under the glares he was getting from Tess and Joel

"Look at this!" said Ellie as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal a bite mark on her arm

"I don't care how you got infected." said Joel

"Its three weeks old." said Ellie

"No. Everyone turns within two days, so you stop bullshitting." said Tess even Ethan was having a bit of a hard time believing her even though he's the one defending her

"It's three weeks. I swear. Ethan's right why would she set you up?" said Ellie as Tess and Joel calmed down a bit

"I ain't buying it." said Joel

A patrol SUV approaches

"Oh, shit." said Ellie

"Run. RUN!" shouted Joel

"Go! Go! Move!" said Tess as she pushed Ethan and Ellie in front of her and they went down the embankment

"Holy shit!" said a guard at the two dead guards

"I got two dead uniforms. I repeat, two casualties in Sector Twelve. Requesting immediate backup." said another into his radio

"We just talked to them a minute ago." said a guard in disbelief

"Those fuckin' stragglers are around here somewhere. Secure the area." said another in angered tone

"Yes, sir." said a guard

"Follow me. Quickly." said Tess

"Shit, they're going to be out in numbers." said Joel

"I know." said Tess as they all hid behind some debris

"Alright, Ellie, Ethan. When I give you the signal, we run." said Tess

"Sure." "Yeah." said Ellie and Ethan

After some stealth and some random sprints they managed to avoid the guards for a bit

"Man, too close." said Ellie

"You said it… holy shit." said Ethan

"You see anything?" said Joel

"Clear back here. How's it look up ahead?" said Tess

"So far, so good." said Joel

"Okay…" whispered Ellie

They make it through an old building

"Shh, shh, shh. I hear 'em up ahead." said Joel as he stopped dead in his tracks

"Ops said they took out a couple of our boys." said a guard

"It's gotta be those fucking Fireflies retaliating." said another guard

"We'll be done with them soon enough." said the other guard

"Go, go." Said Tess as

"Fuck it. Let the clickers get 'em." said the guard

The guards then left and they progressed a bit further till they stopped at a garage door

"We can get through here. Down through here." said Joel

"C'mon, Ellie." said Ethan as he went under with Ellie in toe

They pass through a garage into a military-filled ruin

"Yes, sergeant!" said a soldier

"Oh, shit. Another patrol. Everybody get down." said Tess

"C'mon. Follow my lead. You, check those buildings." order a soldier

"Roger." said another soldier

"Come on up, Joel." said Ethan

"I'm coming, I'm coming." said Joel

"There's so many of 'em out there. How are we supposed to get past 'em?" said Ellie

"They ain't spotted us yet, let's go around." said Joel

"How's it look?" asked Tess

"There's too many." answered Joel

They all move to a corner of the ruin

"Oh shit, they're in here with us." whispered Ellie

"See if you can distract 'em." whispered Tess

"Alright." whispered Joel as Ethan hands him a brick to throw

"Thanks." whispered Joel to Ethan

Joel throws the brick to get the squad off their trail

"I see more lights." said Ellie

"Shit." said Joel

"Up there." said Tess

"You think they're gonna follow us down here?" asked Ethan

"We ain't stickin' around to find out." answered Joel

"Stay low, keep quiet." said Tess

"That was too damn close, Tess." Said Joel as they escaped into a drainage area

"You better be worth it, kid. Tess, you got any idea which way?" said Joel

"Uh...it looks so different." said Tess

"Hang on. Let's see where this leads." said Joel as he entered a pipe that lead into a building

"Yeah, this looks right. Stay close." said Tess

"At least we're out of the rain." said Ethan as he pulled down his hood

"How's it look?" said Tess

"I think we can squeeze through here." said Joel indicating a hole in the wall which lead to another trench

"Charlie Squad, report." said a soldier

"Shit, shit. I got more soldiers." whispered Joel

"Target's still on the loose, sir!" said another soldier

"Break off pursuit and report back to Sector Eleven." said the other soldier

"I don't think they see us." said Ethan

"Acknowledged. Get to your vehicles!" said a soldier

"Stay in the shadows." said Joel

The soldiers withdraw and they make it to a ruined basement

"Alright." said Joel

"Are we safe?" asked Ellie

"No, they're still around. Look, take a moment to catch your breath. Joel, Ethan, see if there's anything we can use in here." said Tess

"Sure thing, boss." "Yes, Ma'am." Said Joel and Ethan

The duo look around and salvage anything of us

"Aunt Tess, up through here, through this pipe. I think we can make it through here." said Ethan

"Stay very close, Ellie." said Tess

"Okay." said Ellie

They can see military vehicles on the grate above their passage

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on, hang on. Jesus." said Joel

"Gather up, they're calling us back. We're returning to the wall!" said a soldier

"You heard the man. Load them up. Let's go! Let's go!" said another soldier

"Come on." said Joel

The group makes it out of the drainage trenches and they all stop to rest

"Alright, they're gone." said Joel

"Look, what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the Fireflies, what then?" asked Tess

"Marlene… She said that they have their own little quarantine zone. With doctors there, still trying to find a cure." answered Ellie

"Yeah, we've heard that before, huh, Tess?" said Joel

"And that...whatever happened to me is the key to finding a vaccine." said Ellie

"Makes sense." said Ethan

"Oh, Jesus. You believe her?" said Joel

"Well… yeah. There must be something about her that makes her immune while others turn into those things." said Ethan

"It's what she said." said Ellie

"Oh, I'm sure she did." said Joel

"What's your deal Joel? She didn't ask for this." said Ethan getting a little tired of Joel and Tess picking on her

"What's your deal? Ever sense she showed up you've been sticking your neck out for her." said Joel accusingly

"I just don't like seeing people getting picked on." said Ethan

"He's my brother's son." said Tess coming to Ethan's aid and when Joel gave her a blank stare she continued

"Growing up my brother was always the nice one not me. Ethan got more from his father then he did his mother." said Tess in conformation while Ethan hides a look of sadness

"Whatever, I still don't believe her." said Joel

"What if it's true?" said Ethan

"I can't believe…" said Joel but is cut off by Tess

"What if, Joel? I mean we've come this far, let's just finish it." said Tess

"Do I need to remind you two what is out there?" said Joel

"We get it. This way. If we cut through downtown, we can hit the capitol building by sunrise." said Tess

"Let's hope." muttered Joel

They finally get a good look at the skyscrapers in the distance

"Holy crap. I guess this is what these buildings look like up close. They're so damn tall. So, what happened here?" said Ellie

"They bombed the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible. And it worked… for a little while at least." said Ethan

They hear a weird cry in the distance

"Uhhh, what the hell was that?" said Ellie

"Tess, do you hear that?" said Joel

"Yeah. Sounded pretty far away though." said Tess

"Shit." muttered Joel

"Are we safe?" asked Ellie

"For now. Come on." said Tess

The road ends at a giant bomb crater

"Damn. That's quite a drop." said Ellie

"No kidding." breathed Ethan looking down

Ellie grins and pushes him lightly towards the crater causing him to freak out

"Well, there's the capitol building." said Joel ignoring the argument between Ethan and Ellie

"Yeah, we need to get around this mess." said Tess

"I could've died!" said Ethan

"Well you're not dead are you?" said Ellie

"Over here." said Joel indicating a ruined building and interrupting the argument

"Hey!" said Joel

"We're comin'!" said Tess

They enter the Building, immediately finding a dead cop

"He's been ripped apart." said Tess

"Yeah…" said Joel

"Body's pretty fresh." said Tess

"Is that bad?" said Ellie

"Yeah, might be... Let's not stick around." said Joel

They find another corpse in the stairwell

"Another one. Shit." said Tess

"Looks like these guys died waiting for backup." said Joel

They find a weird infected corpse

"Goddammit. Clicker." said Joel

"Geez. What's wrong with its face?" said Ellie

"That's what years of infection will do to you." said Ethan

"So what, are they… blind?" asked Ellie

"Kind of, they see using sound. Like bats." answered Ethan

"If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you." added Tess

The building groans in the storm

"Shit." muttered Ellie

"Whole building feels like it's about to fall apart." said Joel

The building shakes again, shifting some of the furniture

"Totally cool. Everything is totally cool." said Ellie

"Ethan, gimme a hand with this." said Joel

Joel and Ethan push open a wedged door, alerting a clicker to their presence

"Joel!" screamed Ellie

Ethan pushes it off and kills it

"Thanks…" said Joel

"You alright?" asked Ethan

"It's nothin'." said Joel

"Let's search for supplies." said Tess

"Shit! Oh, that was so intense." said Ellie

"You said it. Here, patch yourself up." said Tess

"C'mon. Let's get the hell outta here." said Joel

"Up there, look." said Ethan indicating a ledge they can climb

"Yeesh..." said Ellie

"Just see if there's a way through." said Joel who gave Ethan a boast up the wall

"Okay... It's clear. C'mon, Ellie." said Ethan holding out his hand

"Alright, kid, you're up." said Joel who gave her a boast to Ethan's hand

"C'mon, you two. Gimme your hands." said Ethan to Tess and Joel

Ethan pulls up Tess and then they both pull up Joel, they then hear a particular noise

"Clickers?" asked Ellie

"Yep." answered Ethan

"Oh, shit. Go, go, go." said Tess

They quickly hide in a cafeteria

"That's our way out, over the scaffolding." said Tess and they escape

"I think that's it. Ellie, you okay?" asked Ethan

"Other than shitting my pants… I'm fine." answered Ellie

"Let's go." said Tess

"Gimme a second." said Joel as he clears the stairs

"Here you go, ladies and gentleman." said Joel

"All right, come on." said Tess

"The stairwells blocked. Should we go back up?" said Ellie

Tess climbs out the window onto a rusted window-washing rig

"Ahh, this is crazy. Just don't look down." said Tess as window-washing rig creaked

"Wha…? Are you serious?" said Ellie

"I'm with Ellie, that thing is not stable." said Ethan

"C'mon, you two don't be such babies." said Tess

"Yeah… Don't look down. Don't look down." muttered Ellie with Ethan doing something similar

"You're okay. We got a way through." said Tess

"Oh boy…" whispered Joel when he looked down

They pass back into a corner window and find more infected

"Runners." said Tess

"Ethan and I will go check it out. Stay with the girl." said Joel

Joel and Ethan systematically kills all the enemies below

"Alright. Come on down." said Tess

"I'm impressed, you two." said Tess

"Pssh. Let's just get outta here." said Joel

Joel clears door blockage

"Alright. Tess, go." said Joel

"Alright, hold on. Here… this'll work. Alright, gimme a hand, Ellie, Ethan." said Tess

"Yeah." said Ethan

They prop the door open for Joel

"Okay... Alright, that should do it." said Ellie

"There, see? We're doin' alright." said Tess

"Mm-hmm." affirmed Joel

They find a part of the building where the floors have caved in

"Whoa." said Ellie

"Down we go." said Ethan

"Let's get to it. We can get through here. Watch your back." said Joel as they descend

"You know, I was thinkin'… after we get back, we can take it easy for a little while." said Tess

"That sounds nice." said Ethan

"You want to take it easy?" said Joel ignoring Ethan last statement

"Hey, you're the one who's always going on about layin' low." said Tess

"And you always brushed me off." said Joel

"Well, I won't this time." said Tess

"I'll believe it when I see it. Through here." said Joel

"Joel, over here." said Tess indicating a subway

They reach the subway, they find a corpse nearby

"Look at his sleeve. Firefly." said Tess

"These guys aren't doin' too well in or out of the city. Let's hope there's someone alive to meet us at the drop-off." said Joel as he finds a map

"They're from the quarantine zone." observed Ethan

"See… they're not our guys." said Tess

"Over there, see it?" said Joel pointing out the clickers

"Shit. God, we're almost out. Okay, Joel, Ethan, you two take point. I'll watch the rear. Ellie, no matter what, you stay right on Ethan's heels." ordered Tess

"Sure." said Ellie

The group avoids/kills the clickers

"This way. We're almost out. C'mon." said Joel

"Yeah, go over there. Quick, before it comes back." said Tess

"Alright. C'mon." said Joel as he lifts Tess to grab a ladder which she drops down

They all exit the abandoned subway area into the downtown proper

"Holy shit. We actually made it." said Ellie

"Everyone okay?" said Joel

"Peachy." said Ethan

"Let's move." said Tess

"You guys are pretty good at this stuff." pointed out Ellie

"It's called luck, and it is gonna run out." said Joel

"Way to be optimistic…" muttered Ethan

"Which way we goin', Tess?" asked Joel

"Uh… capitol building's in this direction. How do we get up over this truck? Let's see what we can find." said Tess

Joel fetches a dresser after dealing with some recently infected soldiers

"Climb on up." said Joel

The four walk little ways down till they find a garage

"Maybe we can cut through here." said Joel as he begins pulling the chains

"Yeah, that worked out great last time. Sorry… I'm just sayin'." said Ellie when she got glared at by Joel

They try entering the garage and hear noisy cry in the distance

"Shhh-shh." said Tess

"What? I don't hear anything." said Joel

"Okay, double time." said Tess when they heard another cry which Joel did hear

"Oh, shit…" muttered Joel as he was pulling the chains faster

"Oh… they're coming." said Ellie

"I know." said Joel

"They're getting closer." said Ethan

"I know!" said Joel

"Okay, that's good, that's good. Go." said Tess when the garage was high enough

"Okay, Joel." said Ellie when they were holding the garage for him

"Drop it!" said Joel when he was inside and one had grabbed his leg

"Oh… you got something on your shoe." said Ellie to Joel indicating the arm still attached to his leg which he just kicks off

"Gross." said Ellie

"Okay. How do we get out of this place?" said Joel

"Let's find out." said Tess and they start looking around

"So Marlene thinks your immune?" asked Tess

"Well, that's what she believes." answered Ellie

"Well, how were you bitten? I mean you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone." said Tess

"Yeah, I'd sneak out. I was in this military boarding school." said Ellie as Joel started working on his gear on a workstation

"You'd sneak out?" said Ethan

"You know, explore the city. I was in the mall when I ran into infected." said Ellie

"That place is completely off-limits. How the hell did you get in there?" said Tess

"I… had my ways. Anyways, one of those… what you guys call runners bit me. And that was that." said Ellie

"Were you with Marlene when you were bitten?" asked Ethan

"No. I went to her for help afterwards." answered Ellie

"Knowing her, I'm surprised she didn't shoot you." said Tess

"She almost did. Hope she's alright." said Ellie

"I told you. She's gonna be fine, Ethan's a better doctor then fighter after all." said Tess

"Hey! I can fight… kind of…" said Ethan

"Your shooting kind of sucks too." said Joel as he was upgrading his stuff

"Oh come on! Not you too!" said Ethan

"You're good at sneaking and strangling people though." offered Joel

"Thanks… I think." muttered Ethan

"Sorry, but it's the truth. After all you went to medical boarding school (don't know If that even exists in The Last of Us, but let's pretend that it does) not military boarding school." said Tess

"You went to medical boarding school?" asked Ellie

"Yeah, for a little while. But I stopped going." said Ethan as Joel stopped working on his stuff and group resumed walking

"How come?" asked Ellie

"It just got boring after a while. I mean it was cool when they taught us how to remove bullets and stich people up, but after a while it just got repetitive." answered Ethan

They enter the adjoining museum with Ellie knocking something over

"Ow. Shit. Sorry, sorry. That was me." said Ellie as she accidently knocked down a vase

"Tess." said Joel

"Sorry!" said Ellie again

"C'mon. Stay close to me." said Tess

"What is this place?" asked Ellie

"It's an old museum, some of stuff in the display cases are hundreds of years old." answered Ethan

"Really? Wow." said Ellie

Joel and Ethan lift up debris for the girls to pass under

"Alright, watch your head. Hurry. Go, go, go. Shit...sonofa..." said Joel as the debris breaks and separates Joel and Ethan from Tess and Ellie

"Joel!" "Ethan!" said Tess and Ellie in panic

"We're alive. We'll make our way around to you." said Joel

"Oh… Look they're here!" said Ellie

"Tess?" "Ellie?" asked Joel and Ethan

"Run. Run!" said Tess

"Shit." said Joel as the clickers chase the girls off

"Holy shit! Joel we need to get to them!" said

"No shit! Come on!" said Joel as they move upstairs killing clickers on the way

They find an infected beating on a door and hear Tess inside

"Ellie, stay back!" shouted Tess

They burst into a room where Tess is fighting off an infected

"Tess!" shouted Joel as he ran up to her

"I'm fine." said Tess as she kills the infected

"Guys, get in here!" shouted Ellie

"Ellie!" shouted Ethan as he ran to her

"The girl!" said Tess

"Shit." said Joel

Joel and Tess run into the room to see Ethan tackle the infected to ground, but the tables turn when the infected flips them over and is about to bite Ethan when Joel kicks it off and shots it in the head

"Thanks." said Ethan as he gets up and starts helping Joel and Tess take out infected while staying close to Ellie

"That was too damn close." said Joel as they finished off the rest of the infected

"Oh shit." said Tess as she catches her breath

"Tess, how're you holdin' up?" asked Joel

"Just a bit winded. This way. This'll get us to the roof." said Tess as she and Joel starting climbing the stairs

"Are you okay Ellie?" asked Ethan

"Define okay." said Ellie

"Are you still breathing?" asked Ethan

"Do small, panicked breaths count?" replied Ellie

"Yeah, they count." said Ethan with a small smile

"Alright. Then I'm okay." said Ellie also with a small smile

They meet Tess and Joel on the rooftop

"We gotta find a way across. There she is. That's our building." said Tess

"You fucking serious?" muttered Ethan looking at how far away it looks

"It's looks farther then it is and watch the language." said Tess

"Seriously? You bring that up now?" said Ethan meanwhile Joel finds and places a plank to cross the buildings

"Alright. Now watch your step as you goin' up 'cause it's gonna be a little…" said Joel to Ellie but is ignored

"Pssh." said Ellie and Joel scoffs

Joel, Tess, and Ethan follow after her

"Is it everything you hoped for?" asked Ethan indicating the capitol building in the distance

"Jury's still out. But, man… you can't deny that view." replied Ellie which Ethan agreed

"C'mon. This way. Hey! Pick it up. Look, we're almost done. Stay focused." said Tess

"Yes, ma'am." "Yes, ma'am." said Joel and Ethan at the same time as they began their descent

"It's right around this corner. C'mon." said Tess

"Let's keep moving, kids." said Joel

Joel finds a dead firefly

"Look at this." said Joel

"There's a firefly logo on his arm. What if we get there and they're all dead?" said Ellie

"They won't be." said Tess

"But… how do you know?" asked Ellie

"I just do… look everything's gonna be fine." said Tess

"Okay." said Ellie

"It has to be." whispered Tess

They cross a hurdle and move to a swampy street nearby

"There we go. Home stretch, Tess." said Joel

"Um… just so it's out there. I can't swim." said Ellie

"Look, it looks like it's shallow on the right side. Follow me." said Tess

"I'm glad Marlene hired you guys." said Ellie

"What do you mean?" asked Tess

"I know you guys are getting paid for this… but I'm trying to say thanks." said Ellie

"Don't worry about it and for the record I would've helped you for free." said Ethan

"I'm glad I met you Ethan. Look we might not see each other again after this… but friends?" asked Ellie

"That even a question? Of course we're friends." said Ethan with a smile and sticking his fist out which Ellie bumps with a smile of her own

They enter the capitol building and find the Fireflies dead

"No. No, no." said Tess

"What happens now?" asked Ellie

Tess frantically searches a corpse's pockets

"What are you doing, Aunt Tess?" asked Ethan

"Oh, god. Maybe they, ah, maybe they had a map or something to tell us where they were going." answered Tess

"How far are we gonna take this?" asked Joel

"As far as it needs to go. Where was this lab of theirs?" answered and asked Tess

"She never said. She only mentioned it was someplace out west." replied Ellie

"What are we doing here? This is not us." said Joel gesturing to him and Tess

"What do you know about us? About me?" said Tess

"I know that you are smarter than this." said Joel

"Really? Guess what, we're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way for a long time. The only decent person here is Ethan!" said Tess forgetting Ellie was there

"No, we are survivors!" said Joel

"This is our chance…" said Tess

"It is over, Tess! Now we tried. Let's just go home." said Joel

"I'm not… I'm not going anywhere. This is my last stop." said Tess

"What?" said Joel

"Our luck had to run out sooner or later." said Tess

"What are you going on about…" said Joel as he reached for Tess

"No! Don't… don't touch me." said Tess

"Holy shit. She's infected." said Ellie with realization on her face

Joel takes a step back and Ethan stays absolutely still

"Joel… Ethan…" said Tess

"Let me see it." said Joel

"Not in front of…" said Tess but is interrupted

"Show it to me." said Joel raising his voice

She pulls back her collar to reveal a fresh bite wound

"Oh, Christ." said Joel and Ethan paled

"Oops, right? Give me your arm." said Tess to Ellie

She rolls up Ellie's sleeve to where her bite mark is

"This was three weeks. I was bitten an hour ago and it's already worse. This is fucking real, Joel. You've got to get this girl to Tommy's. He used to run with this crew. He'll know where to go." said Tess

"No, no, no, that was your crusade. I am not doin' that." reasoned Joel

"Yes you are. Look, there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me. So you get her to Tommy's." said Tess

"But most of all. Take care of Ethan for me…" said Tess

"I can't…" said Joel

"Yes, you can! He's a good kid he sure as hell didn't get that from me… he'll listen to you… just please take care of him…" said Tess

"Okay, I'll do it…" said Joel but is interrupted

"NO! Aunt Tess you need to stop now!" shouted Ethan with Ellie and Joel looking surprised at him

"Ethan…" said Tess in a soft voice

"Stop it! This is isn't funny! Just get rid of that makeup and lets go." said Ethan practically begging for it not to be true

"This is the end… I'm sorry. I didn't get to fulfil my promise to Tyler (Ethan's dad/Tess's brother) in the end after all…" said Tess in a sad tone

"But… you can't… not you too…" said Ethan accepting what's happing and breaks down with Tess holding and crying as well

They hear a noise outside

"Shit." muttered Ellie

"Oh…" said Tess as she let go of Ethan and ran to the window which shows a military vehicle pulling up

"Watch the exit!" yelled a guard

"They're here." said Tess

"Dammit." said Joel

"I can buy you some time, but you have to run." said Tess

"Aunt Tess! NO!" begged Ethan

"We can't just leave you here!" said Ellie

"Yes. You will." said Tess

"There is no way that…" said Joel but is interrupted once more

"I will not turn into one of those things. Come on. Make this easy for me." said Tess

"We can fight…" said Joel as he moves foward but is pushed back by Tess

"No, just go! Just fucking go." said Tess about to break down again

"Aunt Tess… please." begged Ethan once more

"I'm so sorry Ethan. I love you, you be good and listen to Joel okay? Promise me." said Tess

"I… promise." said Ethan as Joel starts leading them away

Joel, Ethan, and Ellie move out, leaving Tess behind

"We know you're in there! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!" yelled the guard from outside as Tess stands back and raises her gun

Meanwhile, Joel locks the door into room Tess is in

"What the fuck! I can't believe we did that." said Ellie

"Stop." said Joel

"We just left her to die." whispered Ethan

"Stop, both of you. You all stay close to me. We need to move." said Joel

They can hear Tess fighting nearby and Ethan stops

"Oh man…" whispered Ellie as she grabs Ethan and pulls him along

"Just keep pushing forward." said Joel as they navigated the staircase

From the balcony, they can see Tess' body

"Oh my god. Tess…" whispered Ellie

"Target neutralized. She took out two of my men. Copy that. You, take out that door. You, with me." said a guard

"Yes, sir." said another guard

"Those motherfuckers!" whispered Ethan and is about to get up and shot them but is pulled down by Joel

"Don't let her sacrifice be in vain. Come on." said Joel

They continue their frantic escape into a new wing

"We're through." said a guard

"Proceed with caution, there's at least three more in here." said another guard

"This hallway is clear." said another guard

"What do we do? Joel?" asked Ellie as Joel picks up a hunting rifle

"We got this." said Joel as he and Ethan proceed to kill the entire squad and move to the ground floor

"What're we doing? How're we gonna get outta here?" said Ellie

"Alright. We're gonna have to go through that hall." said Joel

"They had to come through here. Search the area." said a guard

"Stay down. I don't know how many more there are." said Joel

"They still haven't found the last three." said a guard

"I heard two of 'em are kids." said another guard

"Does it matter? They took out a bunch of our guys." said the previous guard

"Jesus. Well hey, after today this whole Firefly bullshit will be behind us." said the other guard

Joel and Ethan proceed to kill all the guards

"There's the exit." said Ellie

"I see it." said Joel as they leave the capitol building

"There's stairs over there." said Ellie pointing at a subway tunnel

"Stay low." said Joel

They enter an abandoned subway

"They're going into the subway! Stop 'em!" shouted a guard

"Shit." said Joel

"They're following us!" said Ellie

"Goddammit." said Joel as Ellie runs ahead with Ethan following her

Joel follows them into a spore-filled area and they pull him down behind cover

"No target. I repeat, no target." said a guard

"There's a soldier over there." said Ellie

"Understood. Hold your position and wait for reinforcements." said the guard's radio

"Copy that. Holding position." said the guard

"How the hell are you breathin' in this stuff?" said Joel

"I wasn't lying to you." said Ellie as another guard runs in

"Did you spot 'em?" said the guard that showed up

"No, place is empty." said the other guard

"Let's find them and get the hell out of here before clickers show up." said the guard

Joel kills 'em and the three of them move onto a submerged portion

"Hey, uh, I can't swim." said Ellie

"I can give you a piggy-back ride." recommended Ethan

"Will you be able carry me?" asked Ellie which is answered when Ethan picks her up and they're in the water

"Whoa!" said Ellie

"You got a good grip?" asked Ethan

"Yeah, I'm good just please hurry." answered Ellie

They swim around and find the exit, which leads back into fresh air so Ethan and Joel take off their gas masks

"Hey, look, um… about Tess… I don't even know what to…" said Ellie but is interrupted by Joel

"Here's how this thing's gonna play out. You don't bring up Tess… ever. Matter of fact, we can just keep our histories to ourselves. Secondly, don't tell anybody about your condition. They'll think you're crazy or they'll try to kill you. And lastly, you do what I say, when I say it. We clear?" said Joel

"Sure." said Ellie

"Repeat it." said Joel

"What you say, goes." said Ellie

"You too." said Joel to Ethan

"What you say, goes." said Ethan

"Good. Now, there's a town a few miles north of here. There's a fella there that owes me some favors. Good chance he can get us a car." said Joel

"Okay." said Ellie

"Let's get a move on." said Joel and they begin walking

"Look… I know Joel just said this… but I'm sorry about Tess. I know you cared about her, a lot. And if you don't want to talk to me either I understand." said Ellie to Ethan

"Thanks, I'm sorry too. And we can talk… just give me some time." said Ethan

"Okay." said Ellie as she puts her arm around Ethan

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**The Last of Us: Surviving**

The Last of Us belongs to Naughty Dog the only thing that belongs to me is the OC

Sorry for the long wait! I honestly just got lazy and didn't get around to doing it. I hope the chapter makes up for it!

Chapter 3

On an abandoned highway three figures are walking, but stop when the tallest of the figures points towards something

"Now there we go… Yeah, it'll be faster to go through here." said Joel indicating a railing leading to a forest

"Man…" muttered Ellie

"What?" asked Joel

"Nothing. It's just… I've never seen anything like this, that's all." answered Ellie indicating the area around her

"You mean the woods?" said Joel

"Yeah. Never walked through the woods. It's kinda cool." said Ellie as they continued walking

"Why don't you just take me back to Marlene?" asked Ellie

"If she was up to the task, why'd she drop you off on us?" answered Joel

"Well, maybe she's better now, after all he did help her out." said Ellie pointing at Ethan who was previously being silent to raise his head

"Kid, I don't mean to upset you, but your friend's chances of survival weren't too high even after Ethan patched her up." said Joel

"She's a lot tougher than you think and Ethan did good job on patching her up." said Ellie defensively while Ethan walked off

"It don't matter. 'Cause I doubt I could get either one of us back into the city in one piece. Trust me. I wish there was some other option." said Joel who then looked around

"Shit. Where the hell's Ethan!?" said Joel

"Right here." said Ethan behind Joel

"What are doing with those?" asked Ellie indicating the flowers Ethan's holding

"There medicinal, could be helpful." said Ethan as a matter of fact

"Look… just tell me if you're gonna do something like that. Last thing I want is to break my promise so soon…" said Joel remembering what Tess had asked him for

"So soon? So you plan on breaking it?" said Ethan

"I never said that! Look… let's just move on." said Joel as he started walking ahead

"Whoa. Hey, buddy." muttered Ellie as a rabbit ran by

They arrive at the town's far gate… which is locked

"Well, shit." said Joel as he tried to open the gate

"Should we climb it?" asked Ellie

"No, wire on top of it. We gotta find a way to go around." answered Joel

"Whoa, look. Fireflies. I mean, real fireflies." said Ellie

"Got a jar?" asked Ethan

"No, why?" said Ellie

"So you could catch them." said Ethan

"They make good sources of light." said Joel as a matter of fact

"That… seems kinda fucked up." said Ellie

"Yeah… whatever. Can we go now?" asked Joel

"Sorry, I… got distracted." said Ellie

Joel spans a gap between two buildings with a plank

"Here we go." said Joel as he puts the plank down

Off in the horizon is rising smoke

"That you, Bill?" muttered Joel

"Where do you usually meet him?" asked Ellie

"Huh? Different places." said Joel

"You've never been here, have you?" said Ellie

"I know this is where he lives, but… no, I ain't never been here personally." said Joel

"And that smoke, you think that's him?" said Ellie

"Sure as hell better be." said Joel

"Well, let's go check it out then." said Ethan

"Alright, come on. Down here. Watch your step; it's a good drop." said Joel as they all dropped down

They started walking, but hear a clicker soon after

"Whoa… stay back." whispered Joel when he found the clicker

He kills it and finds another around the corner, which he also kills. After that they walk into a building to forage, when all of sudden Ellie makes blowing noises

"Are you alright?" asked Joel

"I'm trying to learn how to whistle." said Ellie

"You don't know how to whistle?" asked Joel surprised

"Well does it sound like I know how to whistle?" said Ellie

"Give me a second." said Joel as he searched the room

"Ellie, just press your lips together and blow softly." said Ethan who demonstrates and whistles

Ellie does just that and a small whistle comes out of her mouth

"Cool." whispered Ellie as Joel motioned for them to start following again

They exit the building and are once again outside. The trio start walking when they find a locked door

"Well, shit." said Joel

"What?" said Ellie

"It's locked could be the way out or have some useful stuff inside." said Joel

"Got a shiv? And if you do can I have it for a sec?" asked Ethan as he pulled out a bobby pin

"Yeah, here." said Joel as he handed him the shiv

Ethan goes to work on the door and a click sound is heard soon after

"Nice." said Ellie as Ethan pushed open the door

"Thanks." said Ethan as he handed the shiv back to Joel

After gathering the supplies inside they come to another gate

"Oh, shit. It's jammed from the other side." said Joel with Ethan thinking that might be his favorite concerning locked doors

"Here, boost me up." said Ellie

"Maybe I should do it…" said Ethan

"No, you had your moment of glory. Time for mine." said Ellie

"It's not a competition." muttered Ethan

"Alright. Gimme your foot. Now just open it. Nothing else." said Joel as he got in position

"Sure thing." said Ellie as she also got in position

"Careful." said Joel as lifted Ellie and landed on the other side

"Okay. Ah, let's see. Okay. Ta-da." said Ellie as she opened the gate

"Nice." said Ethan with a thumbs up

"Thanks." said Ellie as they continued walking

"So, let's say we get a car from this buddy of yours. Then what?" said Ellie

"Well, then we go find Tommy." said Joel

"Marlene said he's your brother." said Ellie

"And more importantly he was a Firefly. So he'd know where to take you." said Joel

"Oh, okay." said Ellie quietly

"He lives far from here which is why we need the car." said Joel as they walk into a yard

"Hey, look. Gnomes." said Ellie pointing at the gnomes

"Yeah. Those are gnomes." said Joel plainly

"Man, I had an art book filled with these. I always thought they were super cute. Not fairies though. They creep me out." said Ellie

"Fairies creep you out?" asked Ethan

"Yeah… so what?" said Ellie with a faint blush of embarrassment

"So nothing. I'll tell you something, bugs creep me out." said Ethan

"Bugs? Really?" said Ellie with a smile

"Yeah, all tiny and slimy." said Ethan with a shudder as they continued walking

They walk into an old pizzeria and find an old arcade machine there called "The Turing"

"Oh… look at that." said Ellie

"What, you play this before?" asked Joel

"Nah. But I had a friend that knew everything about this game. Apparently, there's this character called Angel Knives who'd...what was it? She'd punch a hole through your stomach before kicking your head off." said Ellie

"That doesn't seem physically possible…" said Ethan

[Author's Note: Who gets the reference?]

"It's not about realism… well most of them aren't anyway." said Ellie as they continued walking on

They are back outside and find an old sign that sits on the Main Street

"Mandatory evacuation. Evacuate to where?" said Ellie

"Where you think? Quarantine zone. See, some places got a head's up before the infection showed up. Most didn't." said Joel

"Man, must be hard. Just… leaving all your stuff behind like that." said Ellie

"That ain't the hard part." whispered Joel to himself

They find a makeshift barbwire barricade blocking off a side street

"Hmm. Yeah, that's Bill's handiwork." said Joel

"Does anybody else live in this town?" asked Ethan

"Far as I know, it's just him." answered Joel

Joel finds a Firefly pendant

"Fireflies were everywhere, huh?" said Ellie

"Yeah, they were. Hoping to restore the country to what it was." said Joel

"Well… with a vaccine, maybe they will." said Ellie

"Maybe." said Joel

They find a clicker in the alley, but it stumbles into a bomb's tripwire

"Jesus!" screamed Ethan

"Whoa, Nelly. Wha… what the hell was that?" said Ellie startled

"That… would be one of Bill's traps." said Joel also startled

"Your friend's kinda paranoid." muttered Ethan

"Now that's putting it lightly." said Joel

"What's the deal with this guy?" said Ellie

"Well, he helped us smuggle stuff into the city. He's… He knows how to find things." explained Joel

"Well let's hope we don't blow up trying to find him." said Ellie

"Just watch your step and you'll be fine." said Joel

They find an infected corpse stuck full of arrows

"Geez. Bill good with a bow?" asked Ellie

"I reckon he is." answered Joel

They climb onto a trailer and find a bow that sits by a chair, obviously a lookout spot

"Hey… Look at that." said Joel as he picked up the bow and arrows

"Let me use that. I'm a pretty good shot with that thing." said Ellie

"How 'bout we just leave this kind of stuff to me and Ethan." said Joel

"Why him and not me?" asked Ellie

"Because he has experience. You don't." said Joel as a matter of fact

"Bullshit! I bet I'm a better shot then him!" said Ellie pointing at Ethan

"Hey!" said Ethan in protest

"You know it's true!" said Ellie to which Ethan just looked down and silently (and reluctantly) agreed

"Sorry. Not changing my mind." said Joel as he crossed a plank and then picked up and placed it against the building

"Here, we can actually use this. It's all clear, come on up." said Joel as he climbed the ladder and pulled the plank up

"Alright." "Alright." said Ethan and Ellie as Joel placed the plank down to cross more buildings

They find a clicker

"Let's give this baby a whirl." said Joel as he pulls out the bow

Joel hits it in the head

"Nice shot." said Ethan

"Now, listen. Bill ain't exactly the most stable of individuals. So when we get there, you let me do the talkin'. You understand?" said Joel

"We understand." said Ethan and Ellie nodded

"We gotta be clear on this. He… He don't take too kindly to strangers." said Joel again

"Alright." said Ellie

"Bill's a good guy, he just definitely needs some time warming up to you two, that's all." said Joel as he hopped down from a ladder

Ethan follows with him helping Ellie down as well, they also come across another tripwire bomb

"See that wire? Stay underneath it okay? Just keep your head low and you'll be fine." said Joel

"Alright." said Ethan

They hear something banging on a door

"You hear that?" asked Ellie

"Yeah." said Joel as he approached the door

"Oh, shit, you're gonna go in there?" said Ellie when the banging stopped and footsteps could be heard running away

"I wanna see what we can find." said Joel as he opened the door

"You're gonna find my body when I die from a heart attack." said Ellie

"Don't worry. I got this." said Joel looking around

Joel kills the infected in the upstairs apartment

"Geez. That thing scared the shit outta me." muttered Ellie

"Well, while we're here, might as well search the place." said Ethan

They look, gather what they could find, and leave

"C'mon, let's get the hell outta here." said Joel

"Don't have to tell me twice." said Ethan

"Yeah, agreed." said Ellie

They find two tripwire bombs blocking a door

"Shit. Look at this. Alright, stand back." said Joel

"Alright." said Ellie as she and Ethan stepped back

Joel picks up a brick and throws it at the tripwire, causing it to explode

"That's one way to do it." said Joel

"Oh, shit. Those things are kinda awesome." said Ellie

"Yeah…" muttered Ethan

The trio walks forward and finds another tripwire

"This place is a freaking death trap!" said Ethan

"Yeah, get back." said Joel as he throws a bottle at the tripwire, once again causing it to explode

"Come on. Just stay close. Ellie, Ethan, come on, just…" said Joel but is interuptted when he opens the door

The three of them look and see that Joel stepped in a weight trap

"Oh, shit!" screamed Joel as he was pulled into the air upside down

"Joel!" screamed Ellie

"Are you alright!?" asked Ethan

"Yeah… God…" said Joel

"Here… we got you." said Ellie as she and Ethan steady him

"Goddammit, Bill…" muttered Joel

"What just happened?" asked Ellie

"It's another one of Bill's stupid traps!" yelled Joel

"That fridge. It looks like the counterweight." said Ethan pointing at it

"Okay." said Ellie as she and Ethan walk towards

"Cut that rope and it'll bring me down!" said Joel

"On it!" said Ellie as she pulled out her pocket knife

Ethan unconsciously goes to rub his neck remembering his first experience with that pocket knife, but stops when he hears noises

"Joel?" said Ethan

"Shit, here they come!" said Joel as he pulled out his gun with Ethan doing the same

"Joel! Ethan!" said Ellie

"Just get him down! Joel and I will cover you!" said Ethan

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel safe…" muttered Ellie as she went back to cutting the rope

Joel and Ethan begin firing at the infected coming towards them with Joel still doing better even though he's hanging upside down

"Come on, Ethan! I'm teaching you how to shoot PROPERLY after this!" screamed Joel

"Sorry!" yelled Ethan as he shot in infected through the arm, chest, neck, and then finally the head

He shot a few more rounds at a few other infected but missed most of them

"Ellie, how's it looking?" asked Joel

"I'm going as fast as I can!" yelled Ellie

"Ellie! Please go faster!" said Ethan as he shot another infected that was about to grab him

"Agh, I just need a bit more time!" yelled Ellie again

"Oh, fuck! Anytime, Ellie." said Joel

"Hold on." said Ellie

Ellie drops the fridge, but it only strings Joel higher, putting her and Ethan at risk

"You alright?" asked Ethan getting closer to her

"Yeah!" said Ellie

"C'mon. You can do it." said Joel

"Okay... Here, catch." said Ellie as she tossed Joel some ammo

"Thanks." said Joel as he began reloading his gun

Another wave comes in and Ethan and Joel begin firing once more. An infected goes to grab Ellis but is shot in the mouth by Ethan

"It's okay! Keep going!" said Ethan

"Okay!" said Ellie as she resumed cutting

"Hurry, you're gettin' close." said Joel

Ellie finally cuts the counterweight, dropping Joel hard

"Okay." said Ellie as she got it

"Dammit…" muttered Joel as he was getting up

"Joel, watch out!" screamed Ellie

An infected jumps on Joel in attempt to bite him

But before it does a man wearing a gas mask machetes the attacker's head off

"Get off your ass and on your feet!" said the man

"Wha…?" begins Ellie but stops when Ethan taps her on the shoulder indicating that they need to run

"Ah, goddammit! Back! Get back!" screamed the man as he gestures them to go the other way

"Oh, fuck!" screamed Ellie

"Which way?" asked Joel

"Alright… we'll ah… We'll cut through. C'mon, here! Oh, goddamn." answered the man gesturing to an ally

"We're going." said Ellie as she pulled along with Ethan

"Where's that goddamn key?" muttered the man as he was searching his pockets for the key

"Guys… behind us!" screamed Ellie

"Bill, come on!" yelled Joel as he shot a few rounds into the group of infected coming towards them

They barely manage to hide in a laundromat

"Don't slow down. This place ain't secure." said the man

They fight off some infected

"Alright, come on we're almost there. Follow me." said the man

Once they reach the outside they find more infected

"Oh, shit." said Joel

"They're getting over the fence!" shouted Ethan

"Goddammit! C'mon! They're gettin' through. Keep going this way, through the truck! Alright." said the man as they all hopped and went through the truck

"Move, Ellie, move!" said Ethan

"I'm going, I'm going!" said Ellie

"It's open, c'mon!" said the man guarding their backs as they get in

The door leads to a bar they all take refuge in

"Man… that was close. Uh… thanks for the heroics and all." said as she reached for a handshake

"Uh, Ellie." Said Ellie introducing herself

He puts handcuffs on her

"Hey, what are you… Ethan?" said Ellie as she's handcuffed to a pipe

"Hey! Stop!" said Ethan as he grabbed for Ellie

He attempts to free Ellie but gets pistol whipped by the man and falls to the floor

"Bill!" screamed Joel as he walked towards him

"You fucking asshole!" screamed Ellie as she attempt to free herself by pulling on the pipe

"Turn around and get on your knees." said Bill as he pointed his gun at Joel

"Just calm down a second." reasoned Joel

"Turn around and get on your knees!" shouted Bill

"Alright!" said Joel as he turned around and was kicked in the back of the knees by Bill

"Don't test me!" shouted Bill

"Just… ah, take it easy." said Joel as Bill was checking him

"You got any bites?" asked Bill

"No." answered Joel

"Anything sprouting?" asked Bill

"No, goddammit, I'm clean!" answered Joel

"Well, I see so much as a twitch…" said Bill but is cut off when Ellie frees herself by pulling out the pipe and proceeds to hit Bill with it

"Ow!" screamed Bill

"Stop!" shouted Joel

"You fucking asshole!" screamed Ellie again as she keeps hitting Bill

Joel walks over and grabs the pipe from her, Ellie just glares and walks over to Ethan

"Son of a bitch!" screamed Bill holding his arm as Ellie helps Ethan up

When Ethan was lifted up you could a huge purple bruise forming on his cheek when Ellie lifts him up

"See what you did!? You fucking dick!" shouted Ellie at Bill as she checked Ethan

"You done?" asked Joel to Bill

"Am I done? You come into my house, you set off all my traps, you damn near break my shootin' arm. Who the fuck are these punks and what are they doing here?" said Bill

"I am none of your goddamn business, and we're here because you owe Joel some favors. And you can start by taking these off and apologizing to Ethan." said Ellie lifting up her cuffs

"I owe Joel some favors, is this some kind of joke?" scoffs Bill

"I'll cut to the chase. I need a car." said Joel

"Well, it is a joke. Joel needs a car. Well, if I had one that works, which I sure as hell don't, what makes you think I'd just give it to you? Huh? Yeah, sure Joel, go ahead, take my car. Take all my food too while you're at it." said Bill as he's cleaning his machete

"By the looks of it, you could stand to lose some of that food." said Ellie

"You listen to me, you little shit…" said Bill as he pointed his machete at her

"No, fuck you! You hurt Ethan…" said Ellie as she got up

"I need you to shut up. Alright? Go back and help Ethan with that bruise." said Joel

Ellie doesn't respond and walks over to Ethan who's hovering his hand above his bruise

"Are you okay?" asked Ellie as she removed his hands and touched his bruise to which he winced

"I will be… can you get my kit from my backpack?" asked Ethan

"Sure… this?" asked Ellie holding a little box

"Yeah." said Ethan nodding and taking the box

Ethan opens the box, which is filled with pill bottles, pliers, scissors, bandages, and some plants. He pulls out some bandages and some painkillers

"Will that help?" asked Ellie

"It'd be better if I had some ice to apply to my cheek. But this will have to do for now." said Ethan as he swallowed a couple painkillers and bandaged his cheek

"Parts. There are parts in this town." said Bill when Ethan began listening to Joel's conversation

"Meaning that you could fix one up." said Joel

"Alright. If I'm gonna do this, there's some gear I'm gonna need." said Bill

"Alright." said Joel

Bill gets out a map full of annotations and margin scrawlings

"It's on the other side of town. Now you help me go gather it, and maybe, I can put something together that runs. But after this, I owe you nothin'." said Bill

"That's fine." said Joel as Bill put the keys to the handcuffs on the table

"Couple days from now, we'll probably be dead anyway." reasoned Joe

Ellie coughs drawling everyone's attention

"What?" asked Joel

Ellie just pointed at Bill then back to Ethan. Bill signs

"Sorry kid." said Bill

"It's fine. You were just being safe." said Ethan reassuringly

Ellie gaps at him and Joel just chuckles muttering something like "forgive and forget"

"Whatever. Follow me. Whole goddamn town's booby-trapped, best stay right on my ass." said Bill

Ellie mutters "not hard to miss" and Ethan chuckles lightly

"Alright. Whatever supplies you may want or need, I suggest you grab them." said Bill

"Alright, thank you. Ellie, Ethan, take a look around and see if there's anything we can use." said Joel

"Alrighty." said Ellie and she starts looking around

"You alright?" asked Joel as Ethan grabbed Bill's map

"Yeah… I mean. I wish I had some ice, but yeah I'm good." said Ethan

Joel nods and pats him on the back. They split up to search. Ellie and Ethan follow Joel into a back room

"Man, he's got a fuckin' stick up his ass." said Ellie

"Just… stay out of his way. Both of you." said Joel

"Don't have to tell me twice. I'm not as forgiving as Ethan. Seriously what an asshole." muttered Ellie

"Ellie. I'm fine. Really. See barely a scratch!" said Ethan jokingly pointing at his cheek

Ellie smiles and lets out a laugh. The trio then walk back to where Bill was and finds a chessboard

"Hey, you know how to play this?" asked Ellie

"A little bit. I'm not that great though." said Ethan as Joel began walking around looking for more stuff

"I always wanted to learn." said Ellie

"Well… maybe you can." said Ethan as he picked up and folded the chessboard and put it in his backpack after looking to make sure nobody (Bill) saw him

"I'll teach you when we have the time." continued Ethan with a smile

Ellie smiled and nodded

"Hey lovebirds! Hurry up!" shouted Bill

They both lightly blush and walk over to where Bill and Joel are standing

"Found everything you need?" asked Bill more so to Joel then Ellie and Ethan

"We're good. Alright, Ellie, Ethan. Come on." said Joel

"Don't leave the door open." said Bill

"I got it." said Joel as he shut the door

"We have to cross to the other building. Up the stairs. Let's move it." said Bill from atop the stairs

"Psh." muttered Ellie

"Just stay with me." said Joel

"Can't believe you agreed to this bullshit, Bill. What you shoulda done was just left them back there." muttered Bill to himself

"You weren't kidding about him." said Ellie

"Yeah, he's one of a kind. I'm gonna take a look around up here." said Joel

"Nothin' in there that I need. Go ahead, take whatever you want." said Bill

"Thanks." said Joel

"So what kind of trouble are you in? Where the hell's Tess?" said Bill

Ethan's heart clenched at the mention of Aunt Tess. Ellie noticed this and grabbed his hand and held it

"Thanks." whispered Ethan with a sad smile

Ellie smiled back and rubbed his knuckles

"It's a job. A simple drop-off." said Joel

"What are you delivering? That little brat?" said Bill indicating Ellie

"Haha. Fuck you, too." said Ellie still holding Ethan's hand

"Y'know, I hope you know what you're doin'." said Bill

"Are you kidding me with this guy?" muttered Ellie and Ethan began rubbing her knuckles

"So, where we goin', Bill?" asked Joel

"My other safehouse. It's more of an armory." answered Bill

"Wait, I thought we were gonna fix up a car?" asked Joel

"We? You know how to fix a…" said Bill

"Bill, just…" started Joel

"It's like I said, what I need is on the other side of town. Now, that side I don't ever go to 'cause it's filled with infected. So, we're gonna need more guns." answered Bill

They continue into a new building. An infected howls nearby

"Shhh. There's one inside." said Joel

"Oh… I've been meaning to take care of that. Relax, it's nothin'. So you didn't answer my question about Tess. I mean, I thought you two were inseparable." said Bill as Ethan grips Ellie's hand harder and she responds with the same pressure

"She's busy." said Joel

Joel then looks over to Ellie and Ethan and sees them holding hands

"What the hell are you two doing?" asked Joel

Ethan and Ellie look down at their hands and blush, both letting let go and looking away from each other at the same time. Bill walks over to an infected in one of his traps and starts chopping

"Yeah, sure… busy. Sounds to… me… like might be trouble in paradise." said Bill

"Aw, gross." muttered Ellie

"Yeah, somethin' like that." said Joel in response to Bill

"Alright… here we go." said Bill as he opens a door to a parking lot

"So… why don't you fix one of these cars?" asked Ellie

"Oh my god, you're a genius. I mean the whole time, why on earth hadn't I thought about fixin' one of these cars?" said Bill heavy with sarcasm

"Okay… don't be a dick. Oh wait! You already are!" said Ellie

"Their tires are rotted and their batteries are dead." said Bill ignoring Ellie's last comment

"Are you done?" asked Ellie

"Can't even begin to think what the inside of the engine blocks look like. Only ones making new car batteries are the military." continued Bill

The group then hears the cries and screams of infected

"Goddammit." said Joel

"Infected!" shouted Ellie

"Ethan! Stay with Ellie! Let me and Bill handle this!" said Joel as he pulled a pipe off his backpack

Joel and Bill fight them off with Ethan killing a few getting close to him and Ellie. After there all dead the group is soon on their way again

"Alright… You gotta check the barricades again. You neglect the simple shit and now you're paying for it. You know what that means… taking all the supplies from the warehouse and lugging it to the east fence… again. Then it'll take you…" muttered Bill to himself

"Okay, well now he's talking to himself." said Ellie

"Again." added Ethan

"Yeah… Bill?" said Joel

"Joel? This way." said Bill

He leads the group through a gate toward his safehouse

"And up we go." said Bill walking up the stairs

"You picked a hell of a place to hole up, didn't ya?" said Joel

"You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable. It's the normal people that scare me. You of all people should understand that." said Bill

"What does that mean?" asked Ethan

"Nothin'. You sure that gate's gonna hold 'em?" asked Joel

"Well, I locked it. They don't have a key." answered Bill

They come to a church's backyard

"So, which way?" asked Joel

"We're here. It's in the cellar. Alright, down here." said Bill as the group enter his hideaway

"Well, here we are. You. Don't touch anything. And you close the door. Let's gear up." said Bill as Joel closed the door

Joel stops Ellie from following them to the workbench

"Uh-uh." said Joel

"What? I need a gun."

"No you don't." said Joel

"Joel, I can handle myself." said Ellie

"No. Just… stay here. Both of you." said Joel

"Fine. I'll just wait around for you two to get us killed." said Ellie

Ethan and Ellie walk over to the other side while Joel and Bill the other

"Can't believe this bullshit…" muttered Ellie

"Don't worry. I'm sure Joel will come around eventually." said Ethan hoping to cheer Ellie

"It's like he thinks I'm going to shoot him in the back or something." said Ellie

"He can be… paranoid." admitted Ethan

"But not nearly as much as Bill is." continued Ethan

"Your cheek feel any better?" asked Ellie

"Don't know. Let's check." said Ethan as he removed his bandages

He removed them and lightly felt the bruise

"Its sore and it's starting to swell a bit." said Ethan

"Is that normal?" asked Ellie worried

"Yeah. I'll be fine, the painkillers help. It'll heal on its own, just need to give it some time." said Ethan dismissively

Ethan then noticed some CDs and other junk

"Hey look." said Ethan pointing at the pile

Ethan and Ellie begin looking through the pile

"He should really organize his crap." muttered Ellie as she began doing so

"Hey! What did I say when we walked down the steps? What did I say?" said Bill when he saw them messing with his things

"I'm just fixing your stupid pile!" yelled Ellie

"Don't touch!" said Bill and Ellie just flips him off

"Goddamnit. You keep babysitting long enough and eventually it's gonna blow up in your face." said Bill to Joel

"Bill. Can we please just get on with it?" asked Joel and Bill tosses him a shotgun

"Here. Let's get on with it. Alright, before we go any further, I got somethin' I gotta show you." said Bill

"Whatcha got?" asked Joel

"New toy from the toy box. This… is a nail bomb. You gotta be really careful. This thing blows, it shreds anybody standing nearby." answered Bill as he pulled it out

"Yeah, I've seen your handiwork." answered Joel

"Pretty good, huh?" said Bill

"So we got shotguns and bombs. What the hell are we doing with 'em?" asked Joel

"Well, every few weeks this military caravan rides through town. I assume they're out looking for supplies. I mean, you'd be amazed at the shit they overlook. Anyway. Few months back, they were rolling through and they get overrun by this horde of infected. They were all over the truck. It plows right into the side of the high school. Still sitting there with the battery in it." said Bill

"So we take that battery and put it in another car." reasoned Joel

"Bingo. I wanted to get it, but it seemed too dangerous with all the infected in that part of town. But, fuck it… Joel needs a car." said Bill

"What if it's damaged?" asked Joel

"Nah. Those trucks are like tanks. It's just sittin' there." answered Bill

"Actually might work." said Joel as Ellie and Ethan approached them

"I swear to god… if either of you took anything…" said Bill

'Already took the chessboard.' thought Ethan to himself

"Hey, man. I don't need any of your shit. Trust me." said Ellie

"Joel, you are keeping an eye on her, right?" asked Bill

"Like a hawk." answered Joel

The group walk upstairs into a large church sanctuary

"Wow." said Ellie as she looked around

"Nice place you got here." said Joel

"Well, if you got anything to confess, this'd be the place to do it." said Bill

They all look around

"That's not the confessional booth, that's my room." said Bill when Joel walked into a side room

"Alright, I'm not touchin' anything. Just…" said Joel looking around the room

They all go to the window exit

"Alright… time to sack up." Said Bill while he opened the window and jumped out

"C'mon you two." said Joel as Ethan and Ellie hopped over

"Look. There's the school." said Bill pointing towards a scoreboard in the distance

"Alright." said Joel

"Ready?" asked Bill

"Guess we'll find out." muttered Joel

They head for the graveyard area and find a pile of burned infected bodies nearby

"Oh, man." said Ellie looking at the pile

"C'mon, you don't need to be lookin' at that." said Joel

"I've seen worse." said Ellie

"Let's get a move on." said Bill

"Alright then." said Joel

"Past this gate, it's all new territory to me." said Bill

"I'm on it." said Joel as he took the lead

"You guys hear that?" said Ethan in response everyone stopped and heard the clicking

"Keep quiet." said Joel as he crouched down same as us

They move past some clickers to a courtyard gate

"Ah, shit… Locked." said Joel

"Hold up. I got a key for that gate. I suggest we move quietly." said Bill

Bill opens the gate and the group enters a residential neighborhood's alley

"Runners!" said Ellie

"Easy, easy." said Joel

Joel started to move forward and tapped Ethan on the shoulder, indicating he wanted Ethan to follow him. They both snuck up to the runners in front of them and started to choke them out, Joel handing the one the left and Ethan the one on the right. After dealing with those two they see a garden full of them, Joel throws a bottle and distracts them, allowing the group to sneak into the nearby house. After crossing through the house and hopping a window, they continued sneaking away from the infected killing a few along the way

"You weren't kiddin' about this place, were ya?" whispered Joel to Bill

"If you guys would give me a gun, I could help you kill some of these fuckers!" whispered Ellie as the group entered a garage

"Shut up. Just shut up." whispered Bill

"This way." whispered Joel as he tries to get through the garage door

"It's tied on the other side." whispered Ethan noticing the rope when Joel tried to open the door

"What about going through here?" whispered Ellie indicating the doggy door

"What, the doggy door?" whispered Bill

"I'll go with you. I can fit too." whispered Ethan to Ellie who nodded

"Be very careful." whispered Joel as he pries the planks off of the door

"Of course." "Of course." whispered Ellie and Ethan in sync

They both look at each other and snicker before both crawl through the doggy door. Ethan unties the rope and Ellie opens the door for Joel and Bill

"There's more clickers inside the house." said Ethan

"Oh, shit." muttered Bill

"They ain't seen us yet. Just stay down." said Joel

"Careful." said Ellie

They make it through the house after sneaking around and killing a few along the way

"Alright, c'mon, let's get up. On the RV and over. We should be clear." said Bill

They all climb the RV and then cross a plank to a treehouse

"Who the hell left this here? You got friends in town?" asked Ellie

"No. Although I have some idea who mighta come through here. School's on the other side of this house. Let's get inside." said Bill

"Friend of yours?" asked Ethan in response to the first part of Bill's assessment

"Something like that." muttered Bill

"Wow, didn't think you had any friends." said Ellie

"Shut it and c'mon. Alright, I think we're good." said Joel once in the house

"For now. Goddamn those things. Nobody's bitten, right?" asked Bill

"Nope. I'm good." said Ellie quickly and Ethan had to bite back a response

"We're all fine. Let's just keep going." said Joel as they proceed through the house

Joel, Ethan, and Ellie go upstairs. Ethan went into presumably the parent's room and Joel and Ellie went into the kid's room. Ethan looked at the crib in the parent's room and couldn't help but wonder if whoever that crib belonged to was okay, though it was doubtful…

"Hey, you got a second?" asked Ellie to Joel in the other room

"Yeah?" answered Joel

"I… I just want to say I'm sorry. About Tess. That's it. I won't bring it up again." said Ellie

"Ellie, you don't need to worry about me. Besides you should be saying that to Ethan… they were closer." said Joel

"I already did. It was just you that I didn't say sorry to." said Ellie

"We should go check on Bill." said Joel as he went and got Ethan

"Okay." said Ellie

"Hey, Joel!" shouted Bill

"Yeah?" asked Joel as he, Ethan, and Ellie reach where Bill's at

"Gimme a hand with this." said Bill indicating the garage door

Bill and Joel raise the garage door and come to the school

"What'd I tell ya? There's that truck, sticking outta the school right there. C'mon. There's a bunch of 'em up there, so try not to make a sound." said Bill

They make it through the mass of infected

"Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be. They must be holed up somewhere else." said Bill

"Well, let's not test our luck. How do we get inside?" said Joel

"Someone left a ladder on the bus. Here, get me up there and I'll drop it to you." said Ellie

"Don't get killed up there." said Bill

"Thanks, Bill." said Ellie dryly

Ellie drops the ladder down

"We're okay. We just need to get to the hood of the truck. Shit. You hear that? They're coming! Move it, kid! Alright, we're gonna get in quick. We're gonna get the battery. We're gonna get the hell outta here." said Bill as he and the rest of the group ran to the door

"Oh, fuck. They're piling over this fence over here. It's not gonna hold!" yelled Ellie

"The door's locked!" yelled Bill

Joel finds a window nearby

"Go, go, go, you two! Go!" said Joel making sure Ethan and Ellie get in first while he and Bill cover them

"Alright, Bill your next." said Joel as Bill went and climbed through the window

Joel's next in but gets caught by a clicker

"Joel!" "Joel!" screamed Ethan and Ellie as they grabbed him and tried to pull him

"Shit." Muttered Joel as he was kicking at the clicker

"Alright, come on!" yelled Bill as he grabbed and threw Joel inside

Bill then shoots and kills the clicker

"That's not gonna hold." said Ellie looking at the window

"Bill, make it fast! Grab this." said Joel

Joel, Ethan, and Ellie barricade the main door

"Please tell me you're done!" shouted Joel as he, Ethan, and Ellie are pushing on the door

"It's empty." said Bill in disbelief

"What?" said Joel as he made his way to Bill and saw that the battery was gone

"It's fuckin' empty!" yelled Bill

"Guys!" shouted Ellie as she and Ethan were barely managing to block the door

"Bill, where to?" asked Joel

"Uh." said Bill

"Bill, where?!" asked Joel again

"Anywhere but here." answered Bill

"Get ready to haul ass. C'mon." said Joel

"They've broken through!" said Bill as the group scrambles into the high school corridors, escaping the horde.

"Let's, um… We'll sneak out the back." said Bill

"You three, follow me. I'll get us outta here." said Joel

"Be my guest." said Bill gesturing for him to take the lead

The group continues through a lab

"There's a way through. We gotta make it past these guys." said Bill

"Help me open this." said Joel as Bill stands next to him

They both push and the door shifts

"Alright. Ready? One more time." said Bill

They both push again and the door pushes open

"C'mon." said Joel going through the door

"Shit. There's more on the way. Barricade the doors." said Bill and Joel barricaded the doors

Finally, they reach the basketball court

"This ain't gonna hold them for long." said Bill

They all hear a weird noise

"That can't be good." said Ethan

A large, grotesque infected comes from the equipment room

"Holy shit!" shouted Ethan when he saw the thing

"What the fuck is that?" asked Ellie

"It's a goddamn bloater!" screamed Bill

"A what?" asked Ellie

"Ellie, Ethan, take cover! We got this." shouted Joel

Somehow Joel and Bill manage to take the monstrosity down

"There." said Bill gasping for breath

"Aw, geez… what was up with that big guy?" asked Ellie to Ethan and he just shrugs

"He's been infected for a long time. We call them bloaters." answered Joel

"Bloater… Okay, got it." said Ellie

"I hate to interrupt your little biology lesson, but can we get the fuck outta here? Please? Let's get on top of these bleachers. Gimme a boost, Joel." said Bill

"Let's go, people." said Joel as he started boasting up Bill

"Alright." said Bill when he reached the bleachers

"Here we go." said Joel as he helped Ellie and then Ethan up there

"Alright, c'mon, c'mon." said Bill helping Ellie and Ethan up

Ellie, Ethan, and Bill get out of harm's way, but some infected appear

"Joel, behind ya!" yelled Bill pointing behind Joel

"Son of a bitch!" said Joel as he saw the infected

"Want me to cover you?" asked Ethan

"NO!" "NO!" shouted Ellie and Joel at the same time

Joel proceeds to kill the infected down to the last one

"You're down to the last one. Finish it off already!" shouted Bill

"Oh, I fucking hate those things!" said Ellie as Joel finished off the last one

"Alright, you got 'em. Let's go. Come on up." said Bill getting in position

"Pull me up. There." said Joel as he grabs Bill's hand and gets pulled up

They jump out the bleacher window

"This way! We're sittin' ducks here." yelled Bill

"There's another ladder over here!" said Ellie

"Keep going, I'm right behind you!" said Joel

"Hurry, Joel!" shouted Bill as Joel hopped the fence

Bill pushes the ladder and the group make for refuge in the nearest dwelling

"Inside the house. Now!" said Bill

"So, that worked out well." said Ellie once inside the house

Joel gives her an exasperated look

"Okay, ah. We'll go check this side of the house, come on Ethan." said Ellie as she dragged Ethan with her

Ethan and Ellie walk around the house

"Probably not the best time for sarcasm." said Ethan sarcastically

"Now you tell me." said Ellie looking at him

"Just thought you should to know." said Ethan with a humorous grin

"Why thank you so much." said Ellie having a humorous grin of her own

They walk around some more and find a door leading to the garage. They open the door and see a truck with the hood open

"Oh shit…" said Ethan

"You don't think…" said Ellie

They both look at each other and move over to the truck

"That's the battery! Ellie see if you can start the car!" said Ethan

"Got it!" said Ellie as she opened the driver's seat and starts the engine and they hear a noise

Joel and Bill hear the sound of the car starting up and rush to the garage

"Look what we found. It's got some juice in it." said Ellie in the driver's seat and Ethan in front of the hood

Bill walks over to where Ethan's standing and stares in disbelief

"That's my battery. That fuckin' asshole. Get out. Get out." said Bill as he walked around to the driver's seat

"Okay, geez." said Ellie as she got out

He tries the ignition

"Battery's drained but the cells are alive." said Bill

"Meaning?" asked Joel

"Meaning we push it, get it started and the alternator will recharge the battery." answered Bill

"Is that your guess?" asked Joel

"Look, you wanted a "plan B." This is as good as it gets." said Bill

"What're you thinking?" asked Ellie

"Thinkin' Ethan drives and Bill and I push." said Joel

Ethan hops in the driver's seat and Ellie hops in the seat next to him

"Jesus… that's more of my stuff. You just… just gonna steal my stuff and run off? That it, Frank? You should probably search the house. I'm sure there's more supplies." said Bill

"That's a good idea." said Joel

"Let me know when you're ready to finish this thing!" said Bill

"I'll give you a holler." said Joel as walks over to the driver's seat

"You gonna be okay with this?" asked Joel

"Yeah… Aunt Tess… taught me how to drive, well mostly how to drive anyway." said Ethan

"You're doin' a good job. Both of you. I figured you two should know that." said Joel with a small smile

"We won't let you down with this." said Ellie

"Alright…" said Joel as he leaves and explores the house

A little while later, Joel comes back into the garage

"Ready?" asked Bill

Joel hands Bill a letter from Frank he found

"Bill, I uh… I found this in there and I… I figured you should have it." said Joel

"That's how you feel. Well, fuck you too, Frank. Fuckin' idiot. You ready to go?" said Bill

"Alright, Bill, let's do it." said Joel

"Alright, put 'er in first." said Joel

"Done." said Ethan

"Just keep your foot on the clutch and when we get to roll…" said Bill

"I know how to pop a clutch. This isn't my first time in a car." said Ethan

"I don't care. Just don't fuck it up!" said Bill

"Alright, Ethan, get ready… Now! Now, hit it. Hit it!" said Joel

The pickup only gets as far as the deserted street before dying

"Perfect. Hey, good job, kid." said Bill

"I haven't done this in a while!" said Ethan in protest

"Bill, not helpin'. Ethan we're gonna give it another go. Stay focused!" said Joel

"Jesus. Just keep turning right. Let's get to the hill at the end of the street." said Bill

"Infected! To the left!" said Ellie

Some infected approach and Joel and Bill take care of them

"Alright, we're good. Back to the truck." said Bill

"We gotta go faster!" said Ellie

"Yeah!? Why don't you get out and help us push then! Look, if we just make it to the hill. We just get it over the edge…" said Bill but stops when he sees more infected

"More infected! To the right!" said Ellie

They kill even more infected and return to the pickup

"C'mon, back to the truck. We don't have much time. You have really fucked my day up, you know that, Joel, huh? We gotta break. We'll get 'er to that hill." said Bill

A third wave of infected approach and get taken care of

"Alright, Ethan, get ready… Alright, Ethan, start it up!" said Joel

Ethan does so and it turns on

"You hear that sound, Bill?" said Joel

"Yeah, well it means the infected hear it, too. Let's get in the fucking truck. Go, go! Floor it!" said Bill

Ethan does so and runs over a few infected along the way

"How's my bumper taste, asshole?" said Ethan (another reference here.)

They drive out of Lincoln. Later on, near dusk, Bill signals Ethan to stop

"Alright, this'll do! Stop!" said Bill as hits the side of the truck

"Just keep it running, alright?" said Joel to Ethan who gives him a thumbs up

"Those kids nearly got us killed." said Bill

"You gotta admit they did hold their own back there." said Joel

"You ain't gonna make it. Oh, oh, ah… Here." Said Bill as he hands Joel a siphon

"What's this?" asked Joel

"You'd be amazed at how many cars still got gas in 'em." said Bill

"Appreciate it. Look, Bill, um, about your buddy back there. Uh… That's a tough deal. And I'm, ah…" said Joel

"We square?" asked Bill

"We're square." answered Joel

"Then get the fuck outta my town." said Bill

"Alright, come on." said Joel to Ethan indicating him to get out

"I can still drive." said Ethan

"Yeah, no." said Joel and Ethan got out and hopped in the backseat same as Ellie

They drop Bill off and hit the highway. Later on…

"Oh, man!" said Ellie as she sat up

"Hey, what happened to sleeping?" asked Joel

Ellie holds up a comic and points at it

"Okay, I know it doesn't look like it, but this here is not a bad read. Only one problem. Right there. "To be continued!" I hate cliffhangers." said Ellie as she leaned back into her seat

"Where did you get that?" asked Joel

"Uhh, back at Bill's. I mean all this stuff was just lying there." answered Ellie

"What else did you get?" asked Joel rubbing his face

"Well…" said Ellie as she began searching her backpack

"I grabbed a chessboard." said Ethan

"When the hell did you grab that?" asked Joel

"After he apologized." said Ethan

Joel muttered something like "so much for forgiving and forgetting." After searching her backpack, Ellie pulls out a cassette tape

"Here. This make you all nostalgic?" said Ellie

"Y'know, this is actually before my time. That is a winner though." said Joel eyeing the tape

He puts it in and country music starts playing

"Oh, man…" said Joel

"Don't like country?" asked Ethan

"Not really." said Joel

"Well, better than nothing. Oh, I'm sure "your friend" will be missing this tonight." said Ellie pulling out a mag

Ethan looks and realizes what she has

"I didn't get the impression he was into men." muttered Ethan

"Mm-hmm." said Joel his attention peaked and now looking back on them

"Light on the reading, but it's got some interesting photos." said Ellie

"Now, that ain't for kids." said Joel reaching for it and failing

"Whoa. How… how the hell would he even walk around with that thing?" said Ellie

"The same way Joel and I do…" said Ethan looking away

"What? This not picking your fancy? Or are you disgusted and repulsed by it?" asked Ellie

"I have no problem with it, he can be into whatever gender he wants. I, however don't swing that way." said Ethan

"Get rid of that. Just…" said Joel reaching for it again and failing again

"Hold your horses. I wanna see what all the fuss is about. Oh… why are these all stuck together?" asked Ellie

"Um…" "Um…" said Ethan and Joel in sync

"I'm just fucking with you two. Bye-bye, dude." said Ellie as she throws it out the window

"You know what? This isn't that bad." said Ellie leaning back into her seat

"Why don't you two try and get some sleep, alright?" said Joel

"Pft… I'm not even tired." said Ellie

A few hours later… Ellie's sound asleep on Ethan's lap (who's also sleeping) as they arrive on Pittsburgh's highway

End of Chapter 3

Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And I hope you have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4

**The Last of Us: Surviving**

The Last of Us belongs to Naughty Dog the only thing that belongs to me is the OC

Hello wonderful people! Sorry again for the wait! I really need to make a schedule or something… anyway hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Well, perfect." muttered Joel in response to the freeway being clogged up with abandoned cars

Ethan begins to stir in the backseat and wakes up

"What is it?" asked Ethan rubbing his eyes

He then sees the blocked freeway

"Oh." said Ethan in realization

Ethan shook Ellie up who's still laying on Ethan's lap

"What's going on?" Ellie asked groggily

Ethan pointed forward

"Oh." said Ellie in realization

"Now what?" asked Ellie

Joel just shakes his head

"Screw it." muttered Joel

Joel continues down the turnpike and stops when a man approaches their truck

"Easy." said Ellie

"Please… help…" begged the man

"We're going to help him right?" asked Ethan

"We are aren't we?" asked Ellie

"Both of you, put your seat belts on." ordered Joel

"Help me…" begged the man once more

"We can't just leave him! He's hurt!" said Ethan in protest and Joel just scoffed

"Oh, he ain't hurt." said Joel as he pushed on the gas

"Oh, fuck! Go, go, go!" shouted the man before he was run over by the truck

Joel guns it as the faker's buddies all start shooting

"Jesus. Oh, not good!" shouted Ellie as she saw a bus coming towards them

The overturned bus T-bones them

"Hold on!" yelled Joel

They then crash in a storefront

"Fuck! Ellie you okay?" said Ethan

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Are you?" said Ellie

"Yeah, I'm good." said Ethan

"Then the both of you get out quick." ordered Joel

A hunter comes over and grabs Ellie

"C'mere, you!" yelled the hunter

"Shit!" screamed Joel as another hunter grabbed him

"Get the fuck off her!" yelled Ethan as he jumped on the hunter's back

The hunter then dropped Ellie and tried to throw Ethan off of him

"Ah! Get the fuck off me!" shouted the hunter trying to throw him off

Ethan not knowing what else to do stuck his thumb in the hunter's eye

"AHH!" screamed the hunter in pain

Joel kills the hunter who pulled him out of the cab. Joel then takes care of the other while he was screaming in pain and grasping his eye. Ethan then looks at his thumb to see it covered with blood and he gags in response

"Fuck… I can't believe I did that…" muttered Ethan as he rubbed his thumb on his hoodie

"Come on." said Joel as he ran back to the truck

He then grabs the backpacks and throws them to Ellie and Ethan while putting on his own

"What's wrong with these guys?" said Ellie

"Catch your breath. We're leaving." Said Joel as he opened the back door of the truck

He then grabs the backpacks and throws them to Ellie and Ethan while putting on his own

"'Kay… Watch out!" shouted Ellie when she saw hunter who began to fire on them

Other hunters come and start shooting

"Shit! Stay down!" yelled Joel

Reinforcements arrive soon after

"These motherfuckers are dangerous. They killed all of them." shouted a hunter

"Shit. Spread out." shouted another hunter

"Damn. This tourist got some scrap in him." shouted another hunter

Joel (and occasionally Ethan) kills 'em all

"Alright… I think that's the last of 'em. You two OK?" asked Joel catching his breath

"Yeah. I guess so." said Ellie

"Never better." muttered Ethan

"Good, 'cause we need to get the hell out of here. You know the drill. Look around, see if there is anything we can use." Said Joel

"Aye, aye captain." said Ethan

"Roger that." said Ellie

While looking around Ethan found a bottle of whiskey, he looked at the bottle

"Oof, yeah that's whiskey alright." said Ethan opening it and taking a sniff

"Planning on drinking that?" asked Ellie

"Me? No, I don't drink. Could be useful for wounds though. Whiskey makes a good disinfectant." said Ethan bagging the bottle

While Joel continued to search, Ethan went outside and leaned his back against a garage door and took a big intake of air

"You okay?" asked Ellie in concern

"I guess… fuck. I can't believe I poked that guy's eye out… I saw you in danger and I… just reacted." said Ethan

Ellie put her hand on Ethan's shoulder

"Hey, don't worry about it. It was him or me. Okay?" said Ellie offering a small smile

Ethan returns it and stands up, and Ellie looks at the garage

"Hey maybe we can go through here." said Ellie pointing at the garage

Ethan then turns around and sees the garage

'Is it just me? Or do we go through garages a lot?' thought Ethan

"Well, we sure as hell ain't going back this way." said Joel in regards to the way they came

Joel then lifted the garage

"Aggh… c'mon… Alright, go." said Joel through gritted teeth

Ethan and Ellie then enter the garage

"Um… There's some pretty gnarly stuff in here." said Ellie

"Ellie! Ethan!" shouted Joel still holding the garage

"Sorry." said Ethan as he and Ellie grabbed the chains

"Right. Okay, go." said Ellie

Joel ducks into the gas station's garage and holds the garage door

"Okay, I got it, I got it, I got it." said Joel as he slowly closed the garage door

"Um… Joel? You'll want to look at this." said Ethan

Joel then turns and sees what Ellie and Ethan were talking about… other dead tourists and their possessions laying around the room

"Fucking hunters. See, this could've been us." said Joel

"Man, that is a lot of people that didn't make it." said Ellie

"I knew I should've turned the damn truck around." said Joel

"At least we're alive." said Ethan

"Barely. C'mon, let's get outta here." said Joel

"How did you know?" asked Ellie

"Know what?" asked Joel

"About the ambush." clarified Ellie

"I've been on both sides." said Joel and Ethan shifted uneasily at that

"Oh. So, ah, you kill a lot of innocent people?" asked Ellie

Joel sighs

"I'll take that as a yes." said Ellie

"Take it however you want." said Joel

The group comes to some rudimentary quarters

"I guess this is where the assholes sleep. I mean slept." said Ellie

Once outside, they find more rotting bodies

"Oh, I don't think these guys were infected." said Ellie

"It don't matter. Let's just keep moving." said Joel

They walk up a flight of stairs and see the bridge in the distance

"Alright, there's the bridge. That's our way out of here." said Joel

Ellie jumps down ahead of Joel and Ethan

"Hey, Ellie, slow down. Wait for me." said Joel

"What? I'm right here." said Ellie

"How 'bout you let me go first? And keep your voice down." said Joel

"Okay." said Ellie

They start walking and Ellie starts whistling

"You're getting better." said Ethan

"Thanks, I had a good teacher." said Ellie with a wink

Ellie finds an old corpse hanging out of a car

"What happened here? Your fellow hunters do this?" asked Ellie

"Cute. And no, my money's on the military." said Joel

"Why would they kill all these people?" asked Ethan

"Can't let everyone in." said Joel

"So they just kill them?" said Ethan

"And the dead don't get infected. You sacrifice the few to save the many." said Joel

"Ends justify the means, huh?" said Ethan

"Something like that." muttered Joel

"Well, I don't believe…" said Ethan but is interrupted

They hear a gunshot nearby and find hunters near a barricade

"What was that?" asked Ellie

"I don't know. Ellie, Ethan, get down." said Joel

The trio then proceed to hide behind some cars

"Where did you learn to shoot?" said a hunter

"Man, screw you." said another hunter

"You had an entire flock and hit nothing." said the first hunter

"I'm about to hit you." said the second hunter

"Wow… yeah, you're really upset. Well if you want some lessons, I'm more than willing to help you out." said the first hunter

"Yeah, whatever." said the second hunter

"Remind you of anyone?" Ellie whispered to Ethan with a big grin on her face

"S-shut up!" Ethan whispered back blushing in embarrassment

"Where the hell are those guys? They're supposed to be here." said a third hunter

"They're on the highway shift. Wouldn't be surprised if they caught another batch of tourists." said the first hunter

"Spot's a goldmine. Lucky bastards." said the third hunter

"See if there's anything you can forage while we wait for them." said the first hunter

"Ain't nothin' here. Let's keep going." said the third hunter

"Screw this. I ain't waiting any longer. Let's go see what those assholes are up to." said the first hunter

"They pull this crap every time. I swear to god, if they're holding out on us again…" said the second hunter

"Yeah. And you'll do what?" asked the first hunter

"You'll see." said the second hunter

"Yeah, I will see." said the first hunter

The hunters leave and the trio approach a bus

"Hey, we can climb the bus right here. Okay, we need to lighten the mood. Ready? "It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope… it'll still be stationary." said Ellie

"What is that?" asked Joel

"A joke book. No Pun Intended: Volume Two by Will Livingston." answered Ellie

"Let's keep going." said Joel

"What did the Confederate soldiers use to eat off of? Civil ware." said Ellie

Ethan chuckled

"I got one. "Wanna hear a joke pizza? Never mind… it's too cheesy." said Ethan

Ellie chuckled

"Ok, how about this. "I walked into my sister's room and tripped on a bra. It was a… booby-trap." said Ellie

"A book just fell on my head. I only have my… shelf to blame." said Ethan

"What is the leading cause of divorce in long-term marriages? A stalemate." said Ellie

"That's awful." said Joel

"You're awful." said Ellie

"Do you even understand what that means?" asked Joel

"Nope. Doesn't matter. Alright, I'm done… for now." said Ellie

"And just when I thought of a good one." said Ethan in jest

They make it to an old quarantine zone checkpoint

"That bridge looks pretty far." said Ellie

"We'll get there." said Joel

The trio jump down off the bus

"Whoa. It's strange seeing a checkpoint with no soldiers." said Ellie

"This is what most zones look like. This place has been abandoned for a while now." said Joel

Ellie finds some graffiti

"Give us our rations." Why wouldn't they give them their food?" asked Ellie

"Sometimes they ran out. Most times they just held onto it." said Joel

"That never happened in Boston." said Ellie

"It happened all the time, believe me." said Ethan with Joel nodding in agreement

They go through the processing turnstile

"I hear hunters." said Ellie

"Yeah, me too. Let's keep it down while we're going through this area. Okay?" said Joel

"Oh… I'm so fucking tired. We were up all night chasing this tourist." said a hunter

"Oh, you were part of that? I heard about this." said another hunter

"Yeah, this one chick, she would just not give up. I've never seen anyone with so much fuckin' energy. It took a couple of minutes to snuff everyone else and fucking five hours to hunt her ass down." said the first hunter

"Jesus. Sometimes you gotta earn your keep." said the second hunter

"Yeah, I guess. We were about to give up when she started shooting at us. Stupid, she coulda got away. I had two other guys keep her busy. I took out my rifle, lined up her little head in the crosshairs, and pow. That was that." said the first hunter

"Damn. Maybe you shoulda kept her. Y'know, made her one of us." said the second hunter

"No, no way. That girl… she'd a killed us all in our sleep." said the first hunter

They come across more guards in the warehouse

"Bossman says we're getting big enough to expand." said a third hunter

"New head honcho… same bullshit talk." said a fourth hunter

"I don't know. Now that we have enough people watching all the exits, he says we can set up a larger perimeter." said the third hunter

"What is that really gonna give us?" asked the fourth hunter

"I don't know, maybe we find some more gas, get some more generators going. I'd really like to restore one of those old projectors. Maybe watch movies or something." said the third hunter

"That shit ain't happening. I've heard that expansion talk way too many times… and every time we try, it ends up with a bunch of us getting killed." said the fourth hunter

"How do you know? Maybe things'll be different now." said the third hunter

"Keep your expectations in check, young'un. You'll live longer." said the fourth hunter

Joel and Ethan dispatch all bookstore hunters

"That was too damn close." said Joel

"The edge of the universe and back. Endure and survive." said Ellie

"Excuse me?" asked Joel

"Savage Starlight." answered Ethan

"What?" asked Joel again

"It's the comic I've been reading. It's what the hero says after a big battle." answered Ellie

"Endure and survive?" asked Joel

"Yeah." answered Ellie

"Okay." said Joel

"Man, look at all these books. I wish I had more room in my backpack." said Ellie in awe

"So you're a reader too?" asked Ethan excited

"Well, when I'm not running away from hunters or infected? Yeah, I read all the time. Okay, it's time to lighten the mood. "Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis." Knead." said Ellie

"A moon rock tastes better than an earthly rock… because it's meteor." said Ethan

"Oh man, that made me hungry. "A backwards poet writes inverse." said Ellie

"Do you even get that?" asked Joel

"Of course not. "I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now." said Ellie

"I haven't heard that one before. Umm… I can't think of any more right now." said Ethan

"It's fine, I've reached my limit too. Now what?" asked Ellie

They leave the bookstore and find corpses hanging by a warning sign

"Man, you'd gotta be crazy to string up soldiers." said Ellie

"You get people desperate enough, they'll do just about anything." said Joel

"And the people that rose up… they're the ones we've been fighting here?" asked Ellie

"It'd make sense." said Ethan

"That'd also be my bet. Let's see where this leads us." said Joel indicating the staircase

"Watch yourself on these drops!" said Joel as he hoped down the staircase on to a truck and then the ground

They enter a flooded street and hunters are nearby

"Down, down, down, down. There's more of 'em." said Joel

The trio take cover behind a taxi

"Careful with that plank." said a hunter

"Let's get outta here." said another hunter

"They didn't see us… I think." said Ethan

"Whew. There's our bridge. We're a little closer, I think." said Ellie

"Let's keep at it. C'mon." said Joel

Ellie finds an old store's supermodel poster

"That girl is so skinny. I thought you had plenty of food in your time." said Ellie

"We did. Some just chose to not eat it." said Joel

"Why the hell not?" asked Ellie

"For looks." answered Joel

"Pssh. That's stupid…" said Ellie as she looked at Ethan

Ellie looked away and whips out her jokebook

"I think we can use some good ol' pun humor. "3.14% of sailors are pirates."

"3.14…" muttered Joel

"That's pi." said Ethan

"I know what it means!" said Joel

Ethan raised his hands in surrender and turned to Ellie

"Can I look at your book? I can't think of any more." said Ethan

"Sure." said Ellie as she handed him the book

"I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it dawned on me." said Ethan

"I get it." said Joel as Ellie snatched the book back

"What did the mermaid wear to her math class?" said Ellie

"What?" "What?" asked Ethan and Joel

"An algae bra." answered Ellie

"Terrible." said Joel

"I thought it was okay." said Ethan

"Why did the scarecrow get a promotion?" asked Ellie

"Alright, that's enough." "What?" said Joel and asked Ethan

"Because he was outstanding in his field." answered Ellie

"That'll do. Put that thing away." said Joel

"Okay. I'm all joked out." said Ellie pocketing the book

They go to the flooded section where the hunters moved the plank

"I can't make that jump." said Joel

"If you get me up there, I can move that plank." said Ellie

"You two wait here!" said Joel as he jumps into the water

"I could give you a piggyback ride again." said Ethan

"As much fun as it was last time. I'll have to take a pass." said Ellie

They see a heavily armored military pass nearby, then gunshots and a woman's screams

"Dude… the sooner we're out of here the better." said Ellie

"Agreed." said Ethan

Joel swims back with a floating pallet in hand

"Get on. We're cuttin' through the hotel." said Joel

"Um… okay…" said Ellie as she hopped on the pallet

Ethan then jumped in the water and helped Joel push Ellie into position

"Set that plank like they did." said Joel as Ellie climbed up

"Alright. Now you two just need to find a way up." said Ellie as she laid the plank down

Joel and Ethan rendezvous with her in an old coffee shop

"Oh, this place stinks." said Ellie

"Yeah, wood's all rotten." said Joel

"Did you go to coffee shops a lot?" asked Ellie

"I did. All the time." answered Joel

"What'd you get?" asked Ethan

"Just… just coffee." answered Joel

"Like just black coffee?" asked Ethan

"Yeah…" answered Joel

"That's boring." said Ethan

The trio then go upstairs and look around

"Hey, Joel! Check this out!" said Ethan holding up a piece of paper

Joel takes the piece of paper and it mentions a stash

"Hmm, we'll need to look for it if we can." said Joel and Ethan nodded in agreement

The trio then go back downstairs

"Do you think those hunters are gone?" asked Ellie

"We're about to find out." said Joel

They enter the large hotel the hunters went into

"It's clear, Ellie, Ethan. Come on down." said Joel and the two jumped down

"Whoa… this is fancy. Ever stay in a place like this? Before it all went to shit, I mean." asked Ellie

"No… no, this is too rich for my blood." answered Joel

"Oh. I bet it was nice. I bet we can get up there." said Ellie indicating a wall

"No, it's too high. Let's see what we can find." said Joel

Joel finds a coffee maker broken on a back counter

"Ahhh, I really miss coffee." said Joel

Ellie and Ethan goes over to the concierge desk

"Oh, I'll be checking in for one night and I'd like your finest suite please." said Ellie

"Would you like me to take your luggage upstairs, miss?" asked Ethan

"The hell are you two doin'?" asked Joel

"Why yes, you can take my luggage upstairs." said Ellie

"You two are weird kids." muttered Joel

Joel finds a way past the broken stairway

"Come on up you two. Watch your step." said Joel

Ellie gets out a jokebook while she and Ethan wait

"Okay, it's time to lighten the mood. "I tried to catch some fog earlier. I mist." said Ellie and then Ethan snatched the book

"Do you know what's not right?" asked Ethan

"Left?" guessed Joel

"Yeah." said Ethan as Ellie grabbed the book back

"What does a pirate say while eating sushi?" asked Ellie

"What?" asked Ethan

"Ahoy! Pass me some soy!" I don't get it. "People are making up apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow…" said Ellie

"Too soon." said Ethan and Ellie nodded in agreement

"That's all I got, anyway." said Ellie

They cut through a window onto a low roof and see hunters scrounging in rooms

"Oh shit. Get down, get down." said Joel

"Don't have to tell me twice…" muttered Ethan as he got down

"Grr, this tourist put up a hell of a fight. It took two of us to put 'em down." said a hunter

"Wait, how many is that now?" asked another hunter

"Hmm, five just this week. But hey, I'm not complaining." said the first hunter

"I bet you're not. We done here?" asked the second hunter

"We got another floor to check, man." said the first hunter

"Check for what? I ain't seen a clicker in weeks." said the second hunter

"That's 'cause we're thorough. We're gonna keep being thorough. Now let's wrap this up, right?" said the first hunter

"Alright, whatever." said the second hunter

"Hey, how 'bout we take a little food break?" suggested a third hunter

"Nah, maybe in like an hour or so. We can eat something before heading back to camp." said a fourth hunter

"Sounds good." said the third hunter

"Got some extra dried fruit if you want." said the fourth hunter

"I'll take you up on that." said the third hunter

Joel and Ethan kill the hunters. Later, the group find two corpses in a bathtub

"Oh, creepy. Guess they took the easy way out, huh?" said Ellie

"It ain't easy… for many it was better than letting a clicker or hunter do it for 'em. Trust me. It ain't easy." said Joel

They make it to an elevator and they climb on top of it

"Let's see where this goes." said Joel

Ellie shuts the trapdoor

"Just in case." clarified Ellie

"Better safe than sorry." said Ethan

"It's gonna be a tight fit, but come on." said Joel

"Okay." "Okay." said Ellie and Ethan

They sidle to the other shaft and then jump down on another elevator it shifting each time someone jumps on it

"Let's hurry and get off this thing." said Ethan

"You two find something to climb on. Okay, here we go." said Joel as he gets in position to boast them up

"Alright…" said Ellie

"Here we go. You first, Ethan." said Joel

Joel boosts Ethan and then Ellie up but the lift falls and Joel along with it

"Oh shit! Joel! Joel!" shouted Ellie

"Are you okay!?" shouted Ethan

"I'm alright! Are you two okay?" asked Joel

"No! You scared the shit outta us! We're… we're gonna climb down there, okay?" said Ellie

"No! Stay up there, the both of you. I'll make my way up to you!" said Joel

"Don't do anything stupid!" shouted Ellie

"And don't die!" shouted Ethan

"I'll try." said Joel as he swims away

After he leaves Ellie and Ethan sit down, after a while Ellie stands up

"Come on, let's see if we can meet him halfway." said Ellie

"But he told us to stay here." said Ethan

"And you thought I was gonna listen to that? Besides he's taking a while… he might be in trouble." said Ellie

Ethan stood up

"That's possible. Nah, it's Joel he's fine. We should just stay put like he said." said Ethan

"Don't be such a pansy!" said Ellie

"I'm not a pansy! Just… stay behind me. Please?" said Ethan

"Sure, lead the way." said Ellie

The two then begin navigating the area

"This is one big hotel." said Ellie walking around

"Well, they had to accommodate for a lot of people." informed Ethan

They walked a little longer and Ellie began to shift nervously

"Hey… Ethan." said Ellie

"What's up?" asked Ethan

"If you don't mind me asking… but… why were you with Tess and not your parents? It's just something that's been on my mind is all…" said Ellie

Ethan got a solemn look and Ellie went immediately to apologize but Ethan but stopped her

"It's fine, I want you to know." said Ethan with a friendly smile and Ellie blushed a little

"At first it was just me and dad, mom wasn't in the picture since she died giving birth to me." said Ethan

Ellie nodded for him to keep going

"When I was 7 we found Aunt Tess, dad was overjoyed to see her since the two got separated a little while before I was born. It was my first time seeing her however, and my first thought was… man she stinks!" said Ethan and Ellie laughed

Ethan smiled but quickly fell

"About a year later, me, dad, and Aunt Tess got into a tight mess. We were completely surrounded by clickers and dad knew we couldn't out run them… so he… so he stayed behind and covered our escape. He told Aunt Tess to keep me safe and gave me this to remember him by." said Ethan lifting up his wrist

Ellie never noticed it before… but Ethan also had a watch on his wrist… except unlike Joel's, his worked

"It's a little old. It's supposedly been passed down to the first son since my great-grandpa, he started the tradition." said Ethan looking at his watch

Ellie took a breath

"I… never really knew my parents that well. I knew my mom's name was Anna, but she died when I was really young." said Ellie

"What about your dad?" asked Ethan

"I never knew him." answered Ellie

"Anyway back to my mom. After she died she left me a letter and asked Marlene to watch after me though I never met her till I was 13." said Ellie

"You mentioned that you grew up in a military boarding school and that you snuck out a lot." said Ethan

"Yeah, one of those times me and Ri… I got bit and you know the rest." said Ellie

"What were you gonna say before?" asked Ethan

Ellie remained silent but jumped when she heard gunshots

"Joel?" asked Ellie

"Probably." answered Ethan as he and Ellie went towards the gunfire

The two arrive to see a hunter trying to drown Joel who is trying to reach for his gun, but Ellie picks up his gun and shoots the hunter

"Man… I shot the hell outta that guy, huh?" said Ellie

"Yeah, you sure did." said Joel as he got up

"Man… I can see why you threw up, Ethan." said Ellie leaning forward holding her stomach

Joel takes the pistol back

"Why didn't you two just hang back like I told you to?" asked Joel

"Well, you're glad we didn't, right?" asked Ellie

"I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid." said Joel

"You know what? No. How about "Hey, Ellie. I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me, thanks for saving my ass." You got anything like that for me, Joel?" said Ellie

Joel just shook his head

"We gotta get going." said Joel and began climbing the ladder

"Lead the way." muttered Ellie as she started climbing the ladder followed by Ethan

"We need to get back out. Find that bridge." said Joel as he jumped down a staircase

"Just tell me where to go." said Ellie

"I hate this crap." muttered Joel

They reach a deserted ballroom and Ellie gravitates to a beach photo backdrop

"Wow, look at that." said Ellie

"That's a backdrop. People would take their pictures in front of it." informed Joel

"Yeah, I know what it is." said Ellie

"Okay, then. Something on your mind, Ellie?" asked Joel

"It wasn't Ethan's fault, he said we should stay put like you said but I insisted that you were taking a really long time and I thought, hey maybe he's gotten into trouble." said Ellie

"It don't matter what you thought. I need you to listen to me. You shoulda listened to Ethan at least, he's got some sense to him." said Joel

"I do. It's just that… Whatever, Joel." said Ellie

Ethan patted Ellie on the back and offered her a small smile, and she returned it

"That door looks like a way out. Hey, you see a way to get up there?" said Joel

"Nope." said Ellie

"What about the piano?" asked Ethan

Ellie and Joel turn to where Ethan was pointing

"That might work." said Joel as he moved to the piano

"Alright… Goddamn, this is heavier than I thought. Hey, how 'bout a hand?" asked Joel

Ethan went over to the piano

"Ethan… push." said Joel

"I am pushing!" argued Ethan

"Push harder!" said Joel

Joel and Ethan then pushed the piano, making it move and then hitting the wall

"How's that for pushing?" asked Ethan

"Let's go." said Joel as he hoped on the piano and then climbed the wall

They exit the hotel onto some scaffolding and see hunters patrolling below

"Oh, shit." said Joel as they took cover

"They haven't gotten back yet. What the hell's taking them so long?" asked a hunter

"I don't know. They went to check on 'em. For now, we wait." said another hunter

"C'mere, keep your head down. Alright now… Ethan and I are gonna jump down there and we're gonna clear us a path." said Joel

"What about me?" asked Ellie

"You stay here." ordered Joel

"This is so stupid. We'd have more of a fucking chance if you'd let me help." said Ellie

"I am." said Joel

He hands her a rifle laying nearby

"Now you seem to know your way around a gun. You reckon you can handle that?" asked Joel

"Well, uh, I sorta shot a rifle before… but it was a rats." said Ellie

"Rats?" asked Ethan

"With BBs." answered Ellie

"Well, it's the same basic concept. Lift it up. Alright now, you're gonna wanna lean right into that stock, 'cause it's gonna kick a hell of a lot more than any BB rifle." said Joel

"Ethan taking notes?" asked Ellie

"Shut up." grumbled Ethan embarrassed

"Pay attention. Now go ahead and pull the bolt back. Grab it right there. Just tug it. There you go. Now as soon as you fire, you're gonna want to get another round in there quick. Listen to me… if Ethan or I get into trouble down there, you make every shot count, yeah?" said Joel

"I got this." said Ellie with determination

"Alright. And just so we're clear about back there… it was either him or me." said Joel and jumped down

"Try not to shoot me." said Ethan patting her on the back and then jumping down

"Wouldn't dream of it." said Ellie to herself as she got ready

"Asshole should've known better. If you're gonna steal, you better make sure you get away with it." said the first hunter

"Right? I would've done…" said the second hunter but is interrupted

"They're all dead! They're all fucking dead!" screamed the hunter that ran in

"The hell's he yappin' about? Take a breath. Who's dead?" asked the first hunter

"The whole crew. The 76 lookout guys. Some fuckin' tourists killed 'em, killed all of 'em." said the third hunter

"Shit. Have you talked to the boss?" asked the first hunter

"Yeah. He wants everyone to hold their ground, watch the gate." answered the third hunter

"Alright, you heard him. Search the area. Do not let anybody through!" yelled the second hunter

As the hunters dispersed, Joel and Ethan snuck behind two hunters and brought them into chokeholds

"He's gotta be wrong." said a fourth hunter

"About the crew being dead?" asked a fifth hunter

"I don't see some tourists taking out the entire crew." said the fourth hunter

"What if they did? Maybe it's the military coming back." said the fifth hunter

"Don't be an idiot. Military doesn't give a damn about this place. Look, if anything some tourists got lucky." said the fourth hunter

"We'll find them. We always do." said the fifth hunter

"I hope you're right." muttered the fourth hunter

Ethan sneaks up behind one of them but alerts him and the rest of the hunters when he steps on some glass

"Shit!" muttered Ethan as the hunters opened fire

Joel and Ellie began opening fire on them, with Ethan helping… kinda

"AHH!" screamed a hunter that was shot in the crotch

The shot was followed by a "SORRY!" and after that a bullet to the hunter's head

Eventually Joel and Ethan kills them all with Ellie's help

"Alright, come on down." said Joel as he picks up a corpse's pistol

"How'd I do?" asked Ellie

"You're already better Ethan, but how 'bout something a… little more your size." said Joel as he hands her the pistol

"It's for emergencies only." ordered Joel

"Okay." said Ellie

"Now, the safety's on. Do you know how to switch it off?" asked Joel

"I do." answered Ellie

"Okay, you just… you gotta respect it. This is not…" said Joel but is interrupted by Ellie

"Joel, I'll be careful." said Ellie

"Okay." said Joel

The trio begin walking

"You're a natural with a gun." said Ethan as he walked up beside Ellie

Ellie smiled at the complement

"Thanks, won't be long till it's me on the front lines and you on the side lines." said Ellie with a laugh

Ethan laughs nervously

"You're kidding right?" said Ethan chuckling

Ellie just smirked and walked faster

"Y

When the trio come across a body hanging from a tree with a "thief" sign around the neck

"Whoa, nelly. Harsh punishment." said Ellie

"Shit. It ain't that much different from what the military does back in Boston." said Joel

"I guess not." said Ellie

Joel and Ethan find a garage and then lifts it open

"Alright, do your thing, Ellie." said Joel

"On it. Come on. Stupid chain is stuck. Hold on." said Ellie from inside

"I am." "I am." said Joel and Ethan through gritted teeth

She moves a large cart under the door as a stopper

"There." said Ellie

"That's smart." said Ethan

"How 'bout you boys get me up there?" said Ellie pointing at an opening

"Help me open this." said Joel when he grabbed the cart to use as a stepstool

"We got it." said Ethan as he and Ellie hold the garage open

"I got it." said Joel as he pulled the cart to the opening

He moves the door cart towards the high-up opening and they climb over. The grouped walked up to a window

"Run!" screamed a voice

"Oh shit, get down, get down." said Joel pushing Ethan and Ellie down

"Keep running!" screamed the voice

The group see some tourists running from a military vehicle, but they eventually get gunned down. One woman however is alive… barely

"What do we do?" asked Ellie

"Nothing." said Joel

"But…" said Ethan but shut his mouth when he heard hunters jump off the vehicle and walk towards the woman

"No…" begged the woman

The plea falls on deaf ears and the hunters finish her off. The hunters check the corpses

"Busy couple a days, huh?" asked a hunter

"Whatever, man. Damn. No food, old pair of shoes. They got nothin'. Let's go." said the other hunter

"Alright." said the first hunter

The vehicle with the military turret drives off

"Fuck…" muttered Ethan

"There ain't nothin' we coulda done." said Joel

"Yeah, I know… just wish we coulda done something." said Ethan as he got up

"Let's just get to that bridge." said Joel

"Yeah." said Ethan

They sneak upstairs to find more hunters

"Well, at least they finally killed that couple. I was sure they made it out of the city. Now all we need to find is this fucking pickup truck trio." said a hunter

"There better've been an army in that truck. How the fuck did they wipe out an entire crew over there?" asked another hunter

"Let's keep searching. I wanna wrap this up by sundown." said the first hunter

The hunters are slain as the team head deeper into the financial district

"Got word from the east side crew… they ain't seen shit." said a hunter

"What about Market Street?" asked another hunter

"Yeah, they're driving through that area now. Who knows, maybe they'll flush 'em out." said the first hunter

"I pray to god these tourists show their faces." said the second hunter

"Fuck, they gotta show up somewhere… I think this'll be your lucky day." said the first hunter

"Joel, there's a guy up on that second floor, right there." said Ellie

"Yeah, I see him. Stay low." said Joel

Ethan and Joel sneak up behind the two hunters and bring them both into chokeholds and then they hide the bodies, eventually they finish off all of the street hunters

"Oh man. Endure and survive." said Ellie

"Endure and survive." agreed Ethan

"What? Oh, right… the comic book thing." said Joel

The trio walk on and Ellie finds some bodies killed along a wall

"Geez. I guess this is how it ended for this zone." said Ellie

"There's always a losing side." said Ethan looking at the bodies solemnly

"What if they had families?" asked Ellie and Ethan went quiet

"Everyone has a family. Best not to dwell on it." said Joel tapping Ellie and Ethan on their shoulders

"How can you not? Hey… get me up there. Come on." said Ellie in regards to a fire escape ladder

"There ya go." said Joel lifting her up

He boosts her up to knock down the fire escape ladder

"We're almost there." said Joel

"Finally, can't stand to be here any longer." muttered Ethan with Joel and Ellie in silent agreement

They jump down near a prep school

"I stayed at a place like this. Back in the Boston QZ." said Ellie

"You mean Military Preparatory School?" asked Ethan

"Yeah, nice way of saying orphanage. I wonder what happened to all these kids." said Ellie

"This place has been out for a good stretch. They ain't kids no more." answered Joel

"Meaning they're either hunters trying to kill us, or they're dead." said Ellie

"Or they got away." said Joel

"You don't believe that, do you?" asked Ethan

"I believe in getting out of this city. Come on." answered Joel

"There's another one." said Ellie pointing at a poster

It's an old werewolf movie poster

"These posters are everywhere." said Ellie

"I saw this right before the outbreak." said Joel

"You did? Did he totally gut her by the end?" asked Ellie

"Was it any good?" asked Ethan

"Nobody gets gutted and it's a dumb teen movie." answered Joel

"Who dragged you to see it then?" asked Ellie

Ethan had an idea, based on what little information he's got from Joel and what Tess told him, but he stayed silent

"I don't know. Let's just stay focused, alright?" said Joel

"Alright." said Ellie

"Let's cut through this alley." said Ethan

They can hear the military Humvee and hunters near the grocery store

"Agh, it's that fucking truck." said Ellie

"It's alright, keep your heads down." said Joel

"Six." guessed a hunter

"Nope." said another hunter

"Seven." guessed the first hunter

"Not even close." said the second hunter

"Ten." guessed the first hunter

"Keep going." said the second hunter

"I don't know, twenty." guessed the first hunter one final time

"Try twenty-five." answered the second hunter

"Bullshit." said the first hunter

"Swear to god." said the second hunter

"You have twenty-five cans of bacon?" asked the first hunter

"Well, twenty-four. I just finished one." answered the second hunter

"How the hell do you have twenty-four cans of bacon?" asked the first hunter

"Military locker in the hotel, from back in the day. Me and Reuben stumbled upon it. Split it right down the middle." answered the second hunter

"And that shit's still good? When are you making some more?" asked the first hunter

"Why?" asked the second hunter

"Why do you think? I want some." answered the first hunter

"Yeah, I bet you do." said the second hunter

"Man… I saved your ass from that clicker last week." said the first hunter

"I'll think about it." said the second hunter

"I shoulda let your ass die back there." said the first hunter

"Oh, Jesus. I'll make you some if you quit bringing that up." said the second hunter

"It better be as good as you say it is." said the first hunter

"It's bacon; of course it's good." said the second hunter

Despite trying to sneak away the Humvee sees them and starts firing with its massive emplacement

"What the fuck are they shooting at us with!?" shouted Ellie as she, Ethan, and Joel ran

"A gun!?" shouted Ethan

"Well, no shit!" shouted Ellie

They evade the vehicle and hear it drive off

"I think we lost 'em." said Joel catching his breath

The trio enter an apartment and search around, Ethan opens the medicine cabinet to find it empty

"Damn!" muttered Ethan as he closed the cabinet and the group continued on

They move along a 2F ledge toward another apartment and the vehicle reappears

"Oh shit." "Oh shit." said Ellie and Ethan in sync

"We're okay. They can't see us." said Joel as the vehicle continued on

As they climb into a window, a man grabs Joel and pulls him into a chokehold in attempts to kill him

"Oh, shit." said Joel as he tried to throw him off

Just then Ellie and Ethan jump in and try to save Joel, the man pushes them away but not before getting cut on the arm by Ellie's switchblade

"What the fuck?" said the man when he say Ellie and Ethan

"Sonofa…" said Joel as he rams the man into a wall and then throws him over his shoulder

Once on the ground Joel starts punching him hard

"Uh… Joel." said Ethan as he and Ellie stood back

"Wait. Wait!" said the man

"Joel, stop! Look." said Ellie

Joel looks up and sees a kid nearby with a gun pointed at them

"Leave him alone." said the kid

"Easy, son. Just take it easy." said Joel with his hands up in surrender

"It's alright. They're not the bad guys. Lower the gun. Man, you hit hard." said the man as he picked himself up

"Yeah, well, I was trying to kill you." said Joel

"Yeah, I thought you were one of them too." said the man

He then pointed at Ellie and Ethan

"Then I saw you two. If you haven't noticed, they don't keep kids around. Survival of the fittest." said the man

"You're bleeding." said the kid

"Ah, it's nothing." said the man

"We have bandages." offered Ethan

"Thanks, but we got our own. I'm Henry. This is Sam. I think I caught your name was Joel?" said Henry

"I'm Ellie and this is Ethan." said Ellie pointing at herself and then putting her hand on Ethan's shoulder

"How many are with you?" asked Joel

"They're all dead." answered Sam

"Hey, we don't know that. There were a bunch of us. Someone had the brilliant idea of entering the city, look for supplies. Those fuckers… they ambushed us. Scattered us. Now it's all about getting outta this shithole." said Henry

"We can help each other." said Ellie and Ethan nodded in agreement

"Ellie, Ethan." said Joel

"We'd be safer in a bigger group." said Ethan

"Yeah, safety in numbers and all that." said Ellie

"Their right. We could help each other. We got a hideout not too far from here. Be safer if we chat there." said Henry

"Alright, take us there." said Joel

"Follow me." said Henry

"Sorry about the whole gun thing." said Sam

"It's fine. Wouldn't be the first time I've become friends with someone who tried to kill me before hand." said Ethan casting a look at Ellie

"Where you from?" asked Ellie changing the subject

"All the way from Hartford." answered Sam

"Really?" said Ellie

"I've heard some pretty bad stuff goes on over there." said Ethan

"Yeah, the military abandoned the zone. It's why we left. Place probably looks like this by now." said Sam

"We gotta be careful. We're right next to one of their lookout areas. Is it just you and your children?" asked Henry

"None of us is related, we're more like, um…" said Ellie

"I promised someone I'd look after her. Him too." said Joel

"Yeah, I can appreciate that." said Henry

Ethan finds a door and picks the lock, he and Joel enter and look for supplies. Ethan goes into a kid's room and finds a comic book

"Hey Ellie!" said Ethan

"What's up?" asked Ellie as she walked in

Ethan lifted up the comic and handed it to her

"Sweet, thanks." said Ellie with a smile

"No problem." said Ethan with a smile

The two stood there looking at each other, they both start blush when they realized what they were doing

"So… we should um…" stuttered Ethan

"Yeah… we… yeah." stuttered Ellie

The two leave and join back with the group, the group soon enters a toy store and hear the Humvee approaching

"Wait, wait. Everyone be quiet. Get away from the windows." said Henry

"They're gone." said Joel as the Humvee left

"Man… that fuckin' truck. It's been hounding us ever since we got in this damn…" said Henry as he turns to Sam

"Sam, what are you doing?" said Henry

Sam is looking at a robot toy

"Nothing." said Sam holding the toy

"Get rid of it." ordered Henry

"My backpack is practically empty." said Sam in protest

"What's the rule about takin' stuff?" asked Henry

"It weighs like nothing." said Sam

"The rule. What is it?" asked Henry once more

"We only take what we have to…" said Sam dropping the toy

"That's right. Now come on." said Henry

They walk ahead with Joel behind them, Ellie stops and picks up the toy. She turns around and sees Ethan standing there crossing his arms and with a smile on his face

"You're sweet. You know that?" said Ethan with a smile

"T-thanks." said Ellie bruising a loose strand of her hair

The two join back up with the group

"How far is this place?" asked Joel

"We're close. Real close." answered Henry

They exit out toward the hunter lookout point

"Shit. Ellie, Ethan, watch our back." said Joel

"Of course." "You got it." said Ellie and Ethan

"Sam, stay with them." said Henry

"What'd you find?" asked a hunter

"Nothing… Looks like someone was up there, but they're long gone." answered another hunter

"So where are the others?" asked the first hunter

"They wanted to give it another once over. Make sure we didn't miss anything." answered the second hunter

"Alright… keep an eye out over there. I'll check this area." said the first hunter

Joel and Henry kill them

"We did it. Not bad, old timer. Come on, up on this truck." said Henry as he jumped up the truck

"Oh shit, more guys up there." said Henry

After dealing with them they enter an apartment/agricultural office

"Through this door." said Henry

"Are you sure it's safe being so close to them?" asked Joel

"I'm the only one with the key, man." answered Henry

"And where'd you get that?" asked Joel

"I killed one of 'em. He won't miss it now. Everybody through." said Henry

"It's back here. So… how old are you two?" asked Sam

"Fourteen." "Fourteen." said Ellie and Ethan in sync

They look at each other and quickly look away

"So how old are you?" asked Ethan

"Ah… the same." said Sam

"Oh, you're fourteen, huh?" said Henry with a chuckle

"I'm close." argued Sam

"Alright." said Henry

"I am." grumbled Sam

They pile into the architectural offices' suite

"Here we are. Welcome to my office." said Henry

"So how long have you've been into architecture?" asked Ethan and Ellie chuckled

"What?" asked Henry confused

"Never mind…" muttered Ethan dejected at his failed attempt for a joke

Ellie gave Ethan a pat on the back

"I thought it was funny." said Ellie offering a smile

"Thanks…" muttered Ethan

"So how long have you guys been holed up in here?" asked Ellie

"A few days. We found a bit of food, though. Here." said Sam

Sam, Ellie, and Ethan go sit on a couch and eat

"Here, some blueberries." said Sam handing them out

"Where'd you find them?" asked Ethan stuffing a couple in his mouth

"A hunter's stash." answered Sam

"Oh… hey!" said Ethan but was interrupted when a blueberry hit his cheek

"Say ah!" said Ellie with a smile

Ethan caught on and opened his mouth, Ellie threw another and Ethan caught it in his mouth

"Cool!" said Sam

"Thanks, I've had practice. Dad would do this all the time with me…" said Ethan

Sam was about to ask what he meant by that before a blueberry hit his eyebrow, he laughed

"What was that?" asked Sam still laughing

"That was me trying to aim for your mouth and failing." said Ethan

"Who woulda thought your poor aiming for guns would translate to poor aiming for blueberries." said Ellie with a laugh

Ellie threw another and Ethan caught it with his mouth once more

"You can't beat the master. Best to give up now…" said Ethan but is interrupted when a blueberry hit his ear

"Ah!" said Ethan clutching his ear

Sam and Ellie laughed at his expression

"A blueberry hurt you?" asked Sam with a laugh

The three continued laughing while Joel and Henry watched them

"It's been awhile since that boy even cracked a smile. Those two don't seem bothered by all this." said Henry

"So where were you headin'?" asked Joel

"Heard the Fireflies are based out west somewhere. We're gonna join up with them." answered Henry

"Yeah…" said Joel with a chuckle

"Somethin' funny?" asked Henry

"Just seems like there's a lot of people putting their stock on the Fireflies these days." answered Joel

"Yeah, maybe there's a reason for that." said Henry

"So you don't know where they are and you're just gonna drag him across the country to find 'em?" asked Joel

"I tell you what, how about I worry about my brother and you worry about your kids?" said Henry with an angered tone

"Easy. We're looking for the Fireflies too." said Joel

Henry digs out a rudimentary map

"This is us. There's an abandoned military radio station, just outside the city. Any survivors from our group were supposed to meet us there tomorrow. You and your girl, you want to join us, it goes down tonight." said Henry

"I guess we best rest up then." said Joel

"Before that. Can I cut that kid's hair? It's not safe with it being in his eyes." said Henry

Joel looked behind him and saw Ethan brushing his brown bangs out of his eyes

"Um… sure. Hey, Ethan!" said Joel

Ethan looked up and went over to them

"What's up, Joel?" asked Ethan

Joel pointed to Henry

"What is it?" asked Ethan

"Your hair." said Henry

"What about it?" asked Ethan touching his head

"It's getting a little too long for comfort. Come with me, I saw a pair of scissors over here." said Henry and he walked out the office

Ethan followed and found Henry looking for scissors

"Where was it?" asked Henry to himself while he looked around

Eventually he found them and sat Ethan down, after asking him to take off his hoodie

"Have you done this before?" asked Ethan after putting his hoodie on the counter

"Yeah don't worry. I do this for Sam all the time, his hair grows like a weed." said Henry as he began cutting Ethan's hair

"Ok." said Ethan

"So, how long have you and that girl been together?" asked Henry

Ethan blushed and stuttered

"We're not… I mean… we…" stuttered Ethan

"Really? Coulda fooled me. You do like her though." said Henry with a chuckle

Ethan stiffened and then slumped his shoulders

"Is that obvious?" asked Ethan embarrassed

"Yeah, but don't worry. She likes you too." said Henry with a knowing smile

Ethan blushed and looked away

"That can't be true… I mean she's pretty, funny, cool, and confident, and I'm…" said Ethan

"Not giving yourself enough credit. Look I haven't known you long, but I can tell that you're a good kid. She likes you, you like her. I don't see what's stopping you." said Henry

"How do you even know all this?" asked Ethan

"I'm pretty good at reading people and situations. And you two… with your touching and looking at each other when the other's not looking… you've just made it easy." said Henry and muttered the last part as he finished cutting Ethan's hair

"There. All done." said Henry brushing his hands

Ethan felt his hair and realized it was still in the same messy style it was before, just trimmed and shorter on the edges so it won't get into his eyes anymore

"Thanks." said Ethan

Ethan picked up his hoodie and tied it around his waist and then the two walked back into the office to find Joel asleep, Ellie playing with a chess board, and Sam still on the couch. Ellie looked up at them and stared at Ethan for a while, noticing how different he looked without his long hair

'He's… better looking than I thought…' thought Ellie to herself

She then realized what she was thinking and blushed red. Ethan then walked over and sat across from her

"Whatcha doin?" asked Ethan

Ellie shook her embarrassing thoughts away

"I got the chess board out of your backpack. You said we could play when we had the time…" said Ellie

Ethan nodded and started to explain the rules. A few hours later at night, Ellie and Ethan rouse Joel from his sleep

"He says it's time to go." said Ellie

Joel nodded and sat up

"Now, we're gonna be moving fast, okay? So no matter what, you stick to me like glue." said Henry

"Like glue. Got it." said Sam

"Like glue. Good, good. Alright, y'all ready?" asked Henry

"Yeah." said Joel

"Okay. Alright, y'all stay close, okay?" said Henry

"You tried this before?" asked Joel

"Uh, yeah." answered Henry

"That's comforting." muttered Joel

"Relax, old man." said Henry

"I just hope you know the way." said Joel

"This way." said Henry

He leads them to street level, near the checkpoint

"Okay, let's try to take them out quietly. Hey, I'll follow your lead." said Henry

"Alright." said Joel

"Hey… how you doing?" asked a hunter

"Just trying to keep warm. How's it looking out there?" asked another hunter

"We put down some infected, but no sign of those tourists." said the first hunter

"Think they're still in the city?" asked the second hunter

"Yeah, they're still around. Alright… I'm gonna do another round. Watch your back." said the first hunter

"Yeah, you too." said the second hunter

They go outside to see a hunter spotlighting infected for his buddy to snipe

"Hey, you hear that? Clicker." said the spotter

"Yeah, I hear it, but I don't see shit! Woo! Nailed it! Did you see that shit?" said the sniper

"Not bad. Hold up, there it is! There!" said the spotter

"Yo, Joel, there's a guy on that light up there." said Henry

"I see 'em." said Joel

Joel and Henry take care of the skeleton crew

"Alright, we did it." said Henry

"Henry, give me a hand with this." said Joel as he put his hands on the gate

"Alright. You ready?" said Henry and they started pushing

They see the Humvee approaching the checkpoint

"Ah, shit. Go!" said Henry as he pushed harder

"Oh, no. Hurry, c'mon." said Joel

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Henry when he spotted a hunter

"Hey! They're over here!" screamed the hunter before being killed

"Got 'em. Come on, everyone." said Henry

"Keep your eyes open, we ain't outta this mess yet." said Joel as he got in boost position against a truck with a half ladder

"Alright, check it out." said Joel as he boosted Henry up

"We're good. Sam, let's go." said Henry

"Alright, kid, c'mon. There you go." said Joel as he boosted Sam up

"Come on." said Henry

The Humvee rams the barred gate

"Open the gate!" shouted a hunter

"Ah, shit!" screamed Henry

"Hurry, hurry!" said Joel as he lifted Ellie up

"They locked it!" shouted another hunter

The ladder they've been using breaks when Ellie gets up

"Ellie!" screamed Ethan in worry

"Gotcha." said Henry as he pulled Ellie up

"Go!" shouted a hunter

"Move outta the fucking way! We gotta ram it!" said another hunter

"Okay, we gotta get them up." said Ellie in regards to Joel and Ethan who are still on the ground

"Ah… I'm sorry. We're leaving." said Henry as he pulled Sam

"What?" said Sam

"What? This is bullshit!" said Ellie in protest

"Hey! Now!" said a hunter as the gate rumbled

"What the fuck, Henry!?" said Ellie

"Oh fuck." muttered Ethan looking at the gate as it rumbled again

Ellie jumps back down to Joel and Ethan after Henry and Sam left

"We stick together." said Ellie

Ethan and Joel nod in agreement before they run for a nearby garage door

"One more time. Punch it!" shouted a hunter

Just the Humvee ram open the door, Joel and Ethan lift up the garage door

"C'mon, into the building! Let's go!" said Joel

"Okay! Okay…" said Ellie as she goes inside

"Go…" said Joel to Ethan

Ethan went inside and helped Ellie hold the door, Joel barely makes it out of the turret's sights

"Oh, fuck." muttered Ellie

"Go around to the other side!" shouted a hunter

"How do we get out of here?" asked Ethan

They slip into a hunter-filled pub

"The hell is going on back there?" asked a hunter before Joel brought him into a chokehold

"Sounds like they found 'em. Spread out. They might come through here." said another hunter before Ethan brought him into a chokehold

They find a door with a cart in front of it, after Joel pulled back the cart he tried to open the door but a chain stopped him

"Alright, let's get underneath it." said Joel as he Ethan ducked under then Ellie ducked under

The Humvee rams a gate nearby

"Fuckin' open it! Go! There! They're running to the bridge! Go, go, go!" shouted a hunter

The trio start running towards the bridge

"Joel!" screamed Ellie when Joel tripped

Joel quickly picked himself up and started running once more. They slip past the impediments, only to find the bridge has long been broken

"Oh, shit." said Joel

"Oh, fuck." said Ellie

"What the fuck are we gonna do?" asked Ethan

"How many bullets do both of you have?" asked Joel

"We can't fight them!" said Ethan

"What other choice do we have?" asked Joel

"We jump." said Ellie

"No, it's too high and you can't swim. I'll boost you two up, you run past 'em." said Joel getting in boast position

The Humvee rams the blockage, sending some cars into the water

"Oh, shit." said Ellie

"Oh my god." said Joel

"Ethan can keep me afloat." said Ellie

"I can do it." said Ethan hoping to convince Joel

"Ellie, Ethan." said Joel

"No time to argue." said Ellie as she jumped followed by Ethan

"Ellie! Ethan! Ah, damn it!" said Joel as he jumped after them

When they land in the water the current is strong

"Ethan!" screamed Ellie

"I got you!" screamed Ethan as he grabs ahold of Ellie

Joel sees Ellie hold onto Ethan for dear life before the current rams him into debris and he loses consciousness

End of Chapter 4

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**The Last of Us: Surviving**

The Last of Us belongs to Naughty Dog the only thing that belongs to me is the OC

Sorry that it's been so long! I've just been busy with finals and my birthday was only a few days ago. But rejoice! As I've been blessed with summer vacation, which means I'll have a lot of free time to get chapters up and finished. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to have this story finished before the end of the summer.

Chapter 5

Joel woke up on a beach to see Ethan, Ellie, and Sam looking down on him

"Holy shit." breathed Ethan in relief

"Henry! He's awake." said Sam running to Henry

"Hey, you. We're alive. We're okay." said Ellie

Sam and Henry come running back to see Ellie and Ethan helping Joel up

"See? What'd I tell you, huh? He's good. Everything's fine. You know, Sam's the one who spotted you. You guys had taken quite a bit of water when…" said Henry before he was thrown to the ground

Joel took his gun in the process and pointed it at him

"What the fuck's wrong with you?" asked Henry

"Henry!" said Sam before Joel pointed his gun at him

"Get back, son!" ordered Joel

"Joel what the hell?" said Ethan coming forward but stopped when Ellie grabbed his arm

"It's fine! Hey, hey, hey, hey… He's pissed but he's not gonna do anything." said Henry

"You sure about that?" asked Joel raising the gun again

"Stop!" said Sam in protest

"Joel." said Ellie getting Joel's attention

"He left us to die out there." said Joel looking back at Ellie and Ethan

"No. You had a good chance of making it, and you did. But coming back for you meant putting him at risk. Stay back." said Henry pointing at Sam

"If it was the other way around, would you have come back for us? I saved you." said Henry

"He saved me and Ethan too. We woulda drowned." said Ellie still holding on to Ethan's arm

Joel throws the pistol back in the sand and Sam goes to Henry

"It's fine though. I'm okay. Y'know, for what it's worth, I'm really glad we spotted you. Now, that radio tower is on the other side of this cliff. Okay? Place is gonna be full of supplies. You're gonna be really happy you didn't kill me." said Henry as he got up

The group started walking but came to two paths shortly after

"Hey, we're gonna search this area. See what we come up with." said Henry as he and Sam went under a collapsed tree

"That was intense. You cool?" asked Ellie

"Yeah. Let's go find that radio tower." said Joel

"For a second there, I thought you might shoot him." confessed Ellie

"Yeah… almost did." said Joel

"Their decent people, it'll be good to have them around." said Ethan

"I think you're right." said Joel

"Hey, maybe we can find something in that boat over there." said Ellie running forward with Ethan on her heels

"Keep your eyes peeled!" shouted Henry

"Way ahead of you, kid." muttered Joel as he walked to the boat

Ellie and Ethan however, were already on the boat

"Whoa." said Ellie

"What is it?" asked Ethan

"First time on a boat." said Ellie

"I've heard it's different in water." said Ethan with a smile

"One step at a time." said Ellie with a smile of her own

Ethan opened a door with a broken window and poked inside. He found a couple of items and a comic book for Ellie along with a captain's hat, he looked at it for a second before putting it on

"Hey Ellie found you another comic book, weird place to find one." said Ethan walking back outside

Ethan handed Ellie the comic, who was laughing behind her hand at what Ethan was wearing

"Why thank you, captain." said Ellie jokingly

"But of course, miss." said Ethan tipping his hat

"Hey, Ellie, Ethan. I think we found something!" shouted Sam

"Let's go see what it is." said Ellie to Ethan

Ethan took off his hat and contemplated whether to throw it away or not, he decided to keep it and stuffed it in his bag

They climb up to a large sewer grate in the side of the cliff

"Hey, I bet this goes all the way through. Gimme a hand with this." said Henry as he placed his hands on the sewer grate

"Alright, same time. Come on." said Joel as he placed his hands on the sewer grate

"Let's do it." said Henry

Joel and Henry manage to lift the sewer grate open

"Alright, c'mon, kids, go." said Joel

Ellie and Ethan went inside the grate with Sam close behind

"Alright. Here we go." said Henry as Joel went inside

"You go in." said Joel once he was on the other side and was holding the grate up

"Okay." said Henry as he climbed inside

"Hey, flashlights out. Sam, stay…" said Henry once everyone was inside

"…Close, I know." said Sam

"Someone's finally learning." said Henry jokingly

"It stinks in here." said Ellie scrunching her nose

"It's the sewers… what'd you expect?" asked Ethan

"I thought it'd smell like flowers." said Ellie with a joking grin

Ethan grinned as well and looked around

"You know… there might be some flowers around here somewhere." said Ethan and Ellie laughed

"I was joking, please don't give me any flowers from down here." said Ellie shaking her head with a smile

The group comes to a part of the sewers that divulge into two different paths

"Joel, we should see what's over here." said Ellie pointing towards the right

"Alright, we'll check this side out." said Henry as he and Sam went to the left

Joel, Ellie, and Ethan walk for a little bit and eventually come up to a gate that's blocked

"It's blocked." said Joel after trying to open it

Joel looks around and finds a loose vent cap

"If you can get it open, I can crawl through and clear that door." said Ellie

Joel does just that with a rat coming out once the cap is off

"Oh, yeesh. That is a big rat…" said Ellie before crawling under

She appears on the other side and clears the gate

"And... voila" said Ellie as she pushed it open

Ethan gave her a thumbs up and the trio continue on their way

"Do you think they'll join us all the way to Tommy's?" asked Ellie

"Well, I don't know. We're just gonna have to see how everything pans out." answered Joel

After gathering everything they can, they go out the way they came and come across Sam and Henry

"This way. Yeah, looks like there's a path up ahead. Right here." said Henry

They come to a flooded cistern

"Can we get out this way?" asked Sam

"Nah, there's no way to reach that." answered Henry

"Well, I can't swim." said Sam

"That makes two of us." said Ellie

"Remind me to teach you two sometime." said Ethan

Ellie and Sam nodded in agreement

"Alright, Joel, how do we get across?" asked Henry

"Guess we gotta figure somethin' out." said Joel

"Hey, this thing's on some kinda track. Maybe there's a way we can use it." said Henry in regards to the platform

"Look, a generator." said Ellie pointing to the opposite side of the room

"Maybe there's something behind the sluice." said Ethan

Joel nodded in agreement and walked over to the wheel in attempt to turn it

"It's jammed!" said Joel after his attempts failed

Joel dives in the water and unclogs the sluice

"Henry, give it a shot!" said Joel

Henry went and turned the wheel, this time met with success

"Alright! Here we go. It's working!" said Henry in triumph

"I'll go have a look. You keep an eye out." said Joel

Joel swam past the sluice while Henry, Sam, Ellie, and Ethan waited. Sam went to stand next to Henry, leaving Ethan and Ellie by themselves. Ethan suddenly remembered what Henry told him and started blushing

'You have a perfect opportunity, just say something! Say something charming!' thought Ethan franticly

"Nice weather we're having!" said Ethan a little louder than necessary

Ellie raised her eyebrows in surprise

"It is?" asked Ellie

'Ethan you idiot! You're underground for god's sake!' thought Ethan mentally slapping himself

"W-well… it looks that way." said Ethan pointing at the opening in the celling after remembering it was there

"Yeah, I guess it is." said Ellie shrugging with a confused smile

'Great! Now she thinks you're an idiot or something! Don't panic… you can think of something…' thought Ethan

Ethan then saw Henry in his peripheral vision, he turned fully to him and saw him mouthing "Just be yourself." Ethan breathes in and exhales

"H-hey, Ellie." said Ethan and Ellie turned to him again

"Yeah?" asked Ellie with a smile

'God that smile is infectious.' thought Ethan

"Well, we've been together for a while and I realized I don't know your favorite color." said Ethan scratching his cheek

"It's red, what's yours?" said and asked Ellie with a smile

Ethan looked and saw Henry giving him a thumbs up while Sam just looked confused

"Mine's green, light green specifically, like your eyes." said Ethan pointing at Ellie's eyes

Ellie blushed lightly

"Like my eyes?" asked Ellie touching her face lightly

Ethan mustering some confidence turns to her fully and gives her a bright smile

"Yeah! Honestly you have such beautiful eyes!" said Ethan

Ellie now blushes fully and looks away

"T-thanks." said Ellie rubbing her neck with a smile

Ethan turns to Henry again and sees him giving two thumbs up with a grin. Henry then turns towards the sluice

"Joel! You okay?" asked Henry

"Yeah! Still in one piece." answered Joel from the other side

Joel returns with a pallet soon after

"Oh… this thing again." muttered Ellie still blushing slightly from before

Ethan came up and put his hand on Ellie's shoulder

"I'll be helping with the pushing if that helps." said Ethan with a smile

Ellie blushes again and turns

"Wouldn't want it any other way." said Ellie honestly

Joel and Sam look confused while Henry smiles knowingly

"Let's go Ellie." said Joel shaking off his confusion and started motioning towards the pallet

"Oh, there you go. That's smart." said Henry realizing what the pallet is for

Ellie jumps on the pallet while Ethan jumps in the water. Ethan and Joel push the pallet towards the other side of the room, once there Ellie jumps up

"Alright, see if that generator's still got some juice." said Joel as Ellie moved to the generator

"Here goes nothin'. Alright!" said Ellie after the generator turned on

"Huh. I can't believe that actually worked." said Sam as the platform started moving

"Yeah, don't jinx us." said Henry

Once over, Henry pulls Ethan and Joel out of the water

"I gotta say, I'm impressed with you three." said Henry

"Pssh… we're pros at this by now." said Ellie as she and Ethan fist bumped

The group come to a door with childish drawings near it

"Uh… what's up with this?" asked Ellie

"You think there's people inside?" asked Sam

"Maybe." answered Henry

"Are we really going in there?" asked Ellie

"No other choice." answered Joel

They open the door, but it sets off a trap that drops glass bottles

"Oh shit." said Joel

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." said Henry

"It's a sound trap." said Sam

"A what?" asked Ellie

"It's like an alarm." answered Ethan

"I don't hear anything." said Ellie

"Someone used to live here. Don't look like that's the case anymore." said Joel

"Who would stay in here?" asked Sam

"Well, someone who thought they could keep a place like this safe." answered Henry

The group walked for a little bit before Joel stopped and picked up a gun on a table. He bagged it and continued on his way. Eventually they come to a corner with a soccer net drawn on the wall

"Oh, awesome." said Ellie

"Ellie, don't…" said Joel

"Ah, calm down. Ethan, stand by those posts over there. Yeah." said Ellie

"Alright." said Ethan

"Ready?" asked Ellie as she placed the soccer ball near her feet

"Go for it." said Ethan

Ellie kicked the ball and Ethan attempted to stop it but failed

"Yeah! Point for team Ellie." said Ellie with a smirk

"T-that was clearly a foul." said Ethan trying to justify his failure as a goalie

"Was it really?" asked Ellie with a smirk

Ethan then kicks the soccer ball back, Ellie catches and passes it to Sam. Sam aims and kicks it with Ethan once again failing to catch it

"Oh, Henry, did you see that?" asked Sam with a smile

"Let's keep it down, buddy, okay?" said Henry

"Yeah. Sorry." said Sam

The group continue on but stop when they growls in the distance

"You hear that? Infected." said Ellie

"Shh, shh. Quiet." ordered Joel

They get detected soon enough and are attacked. One came for Joel and Ethan shot it in the head on his first try

"Holy shit. I got it! Did you see that!?" asked Ethan

"Yeah we're all impressed, now stay back." said Joel

"There's three more heading our way!" said Henry

They put down the infected soon after

"Well, I guess we know what happened to these people." said Ellie

"Seeing as how there was a clicker, they must've been gone for a while." said Joel

"We keep moving forward. All we can do is hope that there aren't any meore of 'em. Doubtful, I know." said Henry

They come to a room with a balcony

"Hey. You think that leads out?" asked Ellie

"Could be. It's too high for a boost. Maybe there's another way to get there." answered Henry

"How about that door?" asked Ethan pointing at the door

Joel and Sam take the lead while Henry, Ellie, and Ethan are behind them

"Oh shit. Get back!" shouted Joel after he accidently set off a trap

The door Joel opened drops a partition, separating him from Ellie, Ethan, and Henry

"Sam!" screamed Henry

"Yeah, I'm cool." said Sam

"That was me. I must've triggered some sort of safety gate or somethin'. Henry, see if we can lift this." Said Joel

Joel and Henry begin trying to lift the gate

"So… this is awkward." said Ellie with Ethan and Sam nodding in agreement

"Yeah, I know. It's like every time…" said Sam before sounds of clicking interrupted him

"Clickers!" said Ellie

"Oh fuck." muttered Ethan

"What?" said Joel

"Hey, this thing isn't budging, man." said Henry

"Just go, get outta here." said Joel

"Sam, you stay close to him." ordered Henry

"Henry, we gotta fucking move!" shouted Ellie as she and Ethan began backing up

"You keep him safe!" ordered Henry to Joel

"Go!" shouted Joel

Ellie, Ethan, and Henry all begin running away while Joel watches as they're chased off by clickers

"Shh, shh, shh. We're gonna be fine." said Joel

"Yeah, yeah I know." said Sam

"Alright, come on, kid. See if we can find a way outta here, yeah?" said Joel

"Okay." said Sam

Joel kills a massive horde of infected by himself

"You did it." said Sam

"We're gonna keep going. You good?" asked Joel

"Yeah. I bet there were a lot of them here. People, I mean." said Sam

"Looks like it." said Joel

They venture further into the compound

"Look at this place. It's like a classroom. Why couldn't they keep it safe?" asked Sam

"Son, I wish I knew. God knows they didn't deserve it. You think you can knock that ladder down?" asked Joel

"Yeah." answered Sam

"Go ahead." said Joel as he boosts Sam up the ledge

"There we go." said Sam as he knocked the ladder down

"Good job, kid." said Joel as he climbed up

The two continue down the corridor when they start hearing gunshots

"Fucking thing!" screamed Ellie

"Is that Ellie?" asked Sam

"C'mon." said Joel walking a little faster

They enter a new room, just as Henry, Ethan, and Ellie do the same

"Joel, that's them." said Sam running to Henry

"Sam!" screamed Henry meeting him halfway

"We can't stop…" started Ethan

"… We gotta keep running." finished Ellie

"Doorway… over there! Sam!" said Henry pointing

"Run! There's too many of 'em!" said Ellie as she and Ethan started running

The group flee into a new room and shut the door

"That's not gonna hold for long!" said Ethan backing up from the closed door

"I know! Ellie! Get away from the door!" said Joel as he went to Henry who's by a gate

"Maybe if we push it together." said Henry as he and Joel started pushing

"Ellie!" whispered Ethan pointing

Ellie turned and saw Ethan pointing at a vent cap. They shared a look and Ethan pulled the cap off, but before Ellie could crawl through Sam starts crawling

"Sam! He just crawled through!" said Ellie turning to Henry and Joel

"He what? Sam, what the hell are you doin'?" asked Henry

"Getting us outta here!" answered Sam before appearing up on the other side

"Well, hurry up then!" said Henry

Sam manages to unjam the door

"Alright, go." said Joel

"Everyone, upstairs. Let's go!" said Henry

They scramble upstairs to the final exit, but…

"Damn thing's stuck!" said Henry as he banged on the exit

Ellie looked up and saw another way out

"Gimme a boost! I can get through that window." said Ellie

"Open it from the other side." said Henry as he started boasting Ellie

"Make it fast!" said Joel as he checked his ammo for the impending battle

"C'mon, Sam, you're not staying in here." said Henry

"What about you?" asked Sam

"I'll be fine. C'mon. Go." said Henry as he boasted Sam through the window

Ethan checks his ammo but stops when he feels a hand on his shoulder

"Now you Ladies' Man." said Henry

Ethan blushed a little at the nickname but didn't let that stop him

"I'm not a great shot, but I can help!" protested Ethan

Just then a bang is heard… the infected broke through the door

"You're getting out of here!" said Henry before boasting Ethan and pushing him through the window

Henry boosts the kids out the door to safety and pulls his gun out

"Get ready!" ordered Joel

"Fuck. Here we go!" said Henry before the two start shooting

On the other side the kids are trying to open the door

"Fuck! Ellie what's taking so long?" asked Ethan after he started hearing gunshots

"It won't move!" protested Ellie as she and Sam were trying to push the vending machine out of the way

Ethan looked down from the window and realized what they were doing, he joined in and started pushing, more gunshots are heard

"Oh man…" said Sam as he started pushing harder

"We almost got it…" said Ethan

More gunshots pass and finally the kids manage to open the door

"We got it!" said Ellie

"Alright, move! Let's go, let's go!" said Joel

Henry and Joel make it outside and help the kids barricade the door again

"Fresh air…" breathed Henry in relief

They see a graffiti warning on the exterior, warning of infected inside

"Oh my god!" said Ethan looking at the graffiti

"Oh, are you fucking kidding me!? Thanks for the warning on the other side, guys." said Ellie

"So, where's this tower?" asked Joel as he turned to the path before them

"We're close. C'mon, let's go." said Henry

The group continue on the trail, Henry and Sam start talking while Ellie and Ethan do the same thing

"Just our luck huh?" said Ethan with a smile and pointing behind him

Ellie turned back and saw Ethan was pointing at the graffiti. Ellie chuckles and turns back to Ethan

"Nothing we couldn't handle." said Ellie with a laugh

"Like you said, we're pros at this." said Ethan

Ellie smiles and high-fives Ethan. The military radio tower's off in the distance

"Hey, look at that. Yep, what'd I tell you, huh?" said Henry

"Let's find a way around to it." said Joel

The group continued on with Henry and Sam in the lead with Joel, Ellie, and Ethan behind them

"What about you two, how you guys holdin' up?" asked Joel

Ellie and Ethan look at each other than back to Joel, they both shrug

"Same old, same old." said Ethan

"When Ethan and I were with Henry, I took out a couple of infected by myself. You'd be proud." said Ellie

"Yeah." said Joel

They continued on for a little bit before Joel spoke again

"Ethan didn't shoot you or Henry by mistake did he?" asked Joel half serious

"Oh come on!" shouted Ethan in protest and Ellie started laughing

The group soon make it into an old suburb

"It was pretty intense back there, huh?" asked Sam slowing down to talk to Ethan and Ellie

"Yeah." agreed Ethan

"Totally." agreed Ellie

"How'd you three end up together?" asked Sam

"Oh… a friend of mine, Marlene, asked them to take me to the Fireflies." answered Ellie

"You two seem to get along well." said Sam in regards to Ellie and Ethan

Ellie and Ethan just share a smile in response. The group walk back onto the street

"What was this place like without infected? I can't even imagine it." said Ellie looking around

The group walked on and came across a sign

"Will shoot on sight." Lots of friendly people lived here." said Sam

"First few months after the outbreak, they had a lot of lootin'. Everyone got paranoid." said Henry

"You remember any of that, Joel?" asked Henry

"Everyone barricaded themselves in their homes, then supplies started running low. That's when you saw what people are really capable of." answered Joel

"I was just five when the cordyceps hit. My memory's pretty hazy, but I remember living in a neighborhood just like this." said Henry

"Do you remember anything else?" asked Ethan as he and Ellie were curious

"Uhh… barbecues. Parents, they would throw these crazy big barbecues and invite a ton of people. You know, I remember the smell more than anything. Weird." answered Henry

Ellie spots some dogs in the distance

"Oh. Doggies." said Ellie

"You're gonna want to stay away from those. It's not like it is in the zone. These are wild." said Joel

"What is this?" asked Ellie as she came up to a truck

"Umm…" said Ethan trying to think what it was

"Oh, this is an ice cream truck." answered Sam

"An ice cream truck?" asked Ellie

"Like they'd sell ice cream out of the truck?" asked Ethan

"Yeah, like that." answered Sam

"What? No way. Joel?" said Ellie turning to Joel

"It's true. This thing would drive around and play real loud, creepy music and kids would come running out to buy ice cream." said Joel

"You're totally fucking with us." accused Ellie crossing her arms

"Um-mmm. Serious." answered Joel

"Man, you lived in a strange time." said Ellie

"Told you so." said Sam

The group continued on and started searching a house for supplies

"Agghh… is anybody else hungry?" asked Ellie

"Yes." "Yes." answered Sam and Ethan in sync

"Hey guys, we break when we get to the radio tower." said Henry

"Alright." said Sam as they finished up searching first level of the house

Joel goes upstairs to search while Henry and the kids stay downstairs. Sam, Ellie, and Ethan start playing darts

"Darts." said Sam

"Right." said Ellie

"Hey, Sam… be careful." said Henry

"Yeah… okay. Alright, I'll go first. Damn it." said Sam when he only made it to one of the outer rings

"Alright, your turn." said Sam handing Ellie a dart

"Okay. Just throw it?" asked Ellie

"Yeah, just throw it." answered Ethan

Ellie throws her dart and hits the bullseye

"Boosh, I am a natural." said Ellie

"Luck." said Sam

"No it wasn't." protested Ellie

"That was luck." said Sam again

"I don't know about that. The second Joel gave her gun she was popping headshots like she'd been shooting her whole life." said Ethan

Sam raised his eyebrow while Ellie pumped her chest out

"Alright my turn." said Ethan

Ellie walked over and handed him a dart

"Try not to take someone's eye out." said Ellie with a wink

Ethan (playfully) glared at her in response. Sam had to stifle a giggle while Ellie did not. Ethan wasn't playing attention and just threw, managing to make a good shot somehow

"Wha… yeah!" said Ethan in victory

Sam whistled while Ellie clapped

"Alright, alright, that wasn't bad as I thought I'd be. Here we go. Fuck." said Ellie as she hit an outer ring

"Horrible. Ethan might actually win this." remarked Sam

"Okay, I didn't do THAT bad." said Ellie

"You know what? I am going to win this, just prove you all wrong." said Ethan grabbing a dart

Ethan aimed and threw… hitting the wall beside the dart board

"Damn it!" said Ethan in defeat

Ellie started clapping

"Truly a masterful throw." remarked Ellie with a grin

"Whatever, the wind messed me up." muttered Ethan as ran his hand through his hair

Ellie looked to the dart board

"It's a tie." said Ellie

"No, no, you clearly got destroyed." said Sam in protest

"Let's both agree that Ethan definitely lost." said Ellie

Sam nodded in agreement

"You guys are jerks." said Ethan

Sam and Ellie laughed and threw their arms over Ethan's shoulders

"Your first throw wasn't bad." said Sam

"Yeah, just don't pay attention and you may actually get better." said Ellie

"How's that good advice?" asked Ethan

The kids leave, but Joel throws the last dart… and misses terribly

"There'll come a day when kids can just be kids again." said Henry

"Let's go." said Joel

The group continues on and soon enters another house to search for supplies

"Sam, Joel, and I will search upstairs. Ethan and Ellie you look down here." said Henry

"Why?" asked Ethan

Henry then gave him a look that says "listen"

'Why does he… oh! Ahh! Good thinking Henry!' thought Ethan

Ethan gave him a nod, Ellie and Ethan started looking around while Henry, Sam, and Joel are looking upstairs

'My heart's beating so hard I wouldn't be surprised if Ellie can hear it!' thought Ethan

Ethan looked to Ellie flipping pages in a magazine

'Henry said she likes me too… so what is stopping me?' thought Ethan

Ellie snorts at what she's reading, she throws the magazine back and starts searching again

'Deep breaths Ethan. Deep. Breaths' thought Ethan before pulling off his backpack and looking inside

"So Ellie… have you ever… liked someone?" asked Ethan

Ellie turns to him with a raised eyebrow, but starts giggling when she sees Ethan wearing the captain's hat from earlier that day

"Define "like." said Ellie crossing her arms

"I mean "like like." You know… l-love." said Ethan

'Oh god! That was direct! It feels like my heart is about to beat out of my chest.' thought Ethan

Ellie looks sad and embarrassed at the same time

"Um… well yeah I have." answered Ellie looking away

"Have… as in past tense?" asked Ethan sadly

"Yes and no." answered Ellie weakly

Ethan's eyebrows raised in confusion

"I-I used to know a girl…" started Ellie

Ethan was a little surprised at this, but quietly listened

"…Her name was Riley. She was my best friend and the first person I ever loved. She used to be in military boarding school like me, but she didn't really agree with what the military. In fact she wanted to join the Fireflies, but she didn't get in." continued Ellie while Ethan patiently waited

"A few weeks or so before I met you and Joel, I saw Riley again after not seeing her for over a month. She told me that she managed to join the Fireflies. We escaped the school and went to the mall, she brought me there when we first met. And it was greatest day of my life, having fun, telling jokes, being kids. It was amazing… and then it wasn't. We got caught off guard by runners, we managed to escape but it turned out it didn't matter. We both got bit." continued Ellie tears in her eyes

"Riley came to the conclusion that we had two options, we could shoot each other or die fighting. I asked for a third option, but there wasn't one. In the end, Riley died and I find out I'm immune." finished Ellie

"Ellie… I… don't know what to say." said Ethan dumbfounded

"Then say this." said Ellie wiping her eyes on her sleeves and then marching up to Ethan

Ellie grabs Ethan and pulls him into a hug

"Say that we'll survive this and make it to the Fireflies. We'll save the world and everyone in it. S-say… that you won't die, that you won't leave me." said Ellie hugging Ethan

Ethan returned the hug

"I won't die and I can't leave you. Because… because… because I love you!" said Ethan

Ellie broke the hug and looked to Ethan in surprise

"I love you, Ellie! I find myself wanting to always be next to you, to talk to you, to laugh with you, to look at you! I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest whenever I see that amazing smile or hear that amazing laugh of yours!" said Ethan

Ethan put his hands on Ellie's shoulders

"Ellie, you're the most wonderful, funniest, bravest, and the most beautiful person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing! And I'll be damned before I leave…" shouted Ethan before he's cut off by a pair of lips on his

Ethan's eyes went wide before they closed. Ellie's death grip on Ethan's shirt collar tightened even more before loosening when she felt Ethan's arms encircle her waist. Ellie readjusted and placed her hands on Ethan's shoulders. The two remained like for a while before finally breaking apart, breathing heavily

"I love you too." whispered Ellie before embracing Ethan again

"Thank you. For not only accepting my confession, but for telling me all of that. I know it was hard for you. I promise I'm not going anywhere, you'd have to shoot me before I ever stop following. And even then I'd still follow you." said Ethan

Ellie's grip tightened and Ethan responded in kind

"Hey. I'm curious about something." said Ellie

"What?" asked Ethan

Ellie broke the hug and looked to Ethan with a smile

"Why did you put this on?" asked Ellie tapping his captain's hat

Ethan blushed in embarrassment and Ellie wasn't afraid to admit she found it adorable

"I-I thought it would give me some confidence." answered Ethan still blushing in embarrassment

"Did it work?" asked Ellie with a smile

"I think the results speak for themselves." said Ethan with a smile and Ellie laughed

They hear clapping and turn to see Henry, Sam, and Joel

"How long were you here!?" asked Ethan and Ellie nodded in agreement

"Just the part where you declared your undying love for her." answered Henry

Ethan and Ellie blush, but were both thankful they didn't hear the part about Riley

"Well?" asked Henry

"Well what?" asked Ethan

"Are you going to say thank you for me being your wingman?" asked Henry with a smile

Ethan smiled while the others looked confused

"Thanks, if it wasn't for your advice I probably wouldn't have been able to tell her how I felt." said Ethan earnestly

Henry nodded and left, along with Sam. Joel stayed in the room and stared at them

"This isn't gonna cause problems is it?" asked Joel crossing his arms

Ellie and Ethan shook their heads, and then Joel showed them a small genuine smile

"Then I'm glad you two finally came to terms with what you were feeling." said Joel

Ethan and Ellie smiled, but then they immediately fell

"You knew!?" "You knew!?" asked Ellie and Ethan in sync

Joel scoffs and turns his back to them

"Of course I did. I'm old, not blind." answered Joel

Joel walked out to join Henry and Sam. Ethan and Ellie look to each other, they smile and walk out holding hands. They meet up with Joel, Henry, and Sam, and soon find the far street blocked by debris, they also find a Firefly symbol

"Fireflies were here." said Henry

"Yeah, by the looks of it." said Joel

"How're we gonna find them?" asked Sam

"I know a guy. My brother, actually. He was a Firefly. Last I heard he was in Wyoming. We get there, we find him. We find the Fireflies. Whaddya say, you in?" asked Joel

"Sounds like a good plan, man." answered Henry

"Ah, okay. You guys are killing me with your downer talk. It's joke book time." said Ellie pulling out her joke while still holding Ethan's hand

"What is that?" asked Sam

"Just bear with me. "You wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind, it was too cheesy." said Ellie

"Hey, I said that one!" said Ethan in protest

"Oh yeah!" said Ellie remembering when she first pulled out her joke book

"I don't get it." said Sam

"Well, pizza is made of cheese." answered Ethan

"It is?" asked Sam

"Yeah, that's what dad told me it was made of. He used to say "If there's anything I could have back besides coffee, it'd be pizza." said Ethan

"What did the green grape say to purple grape?" asked Ellie

"What?" asked Sam

"Breathe, you idiot!" answered Ellie

Ethan snickers while Sam says that's stupid

"Alright, I got a joke for you." said Sam

"Let's hear it." said Ellie

"Why can't your nose be twelve inches long?" asked Sam

"I don't know, why?" asked Ellie

"Because… then it would be a foot." answered Sam

Ellie and Ethan laugh

"That's so dumb. I love it." said Ellie

"You got any…" said Ethan before being cut off by a gunshot

"Oh shit! Get down." shouted Joel taking cover behind a car

"Oh shit…" said Ellie getting behind cover

"Fuckin' sniper… Did you see where it came from?" asked Henry

"Somewhere down the street. Alright now… y'all stay here." said Joel

"No." said Ellie

"No way." said Ethan

"Before you two start… I need you guys to keep him busy. I'm gonna go around and see if I can't get the angle on him." said Joel

Ellie and Ethan nodded in agreement

"Okay. Hey. Be careful." said Ellie

After careful maneuvering and killing a few hunters, Joel gets to the sniper and stabs him. Joel sees more hunters jumping down and mans the sniper, he covers them while they advance

"Come on, guys… Oh, no, no, no." said Joel when an armored humvee appeared

"It's those damn tourists from the city!" yelled a hunter

"Come on, Henry." said Joel as he saw them pinned down

"Thought you could get away from us, huh?" asked another hunter before getting shot by Joel

"We're back, mother…" started the first hunter before a bullet entered his skull

A hunter manages to sneak up to Henry and the kids, he manages to shoot Ethan before being shot by Joel

"Shit." hissed Joel when saw Ethan shot

He blew a sign of relief when he realized the bullet just grazed his right arm. The humvee approaches Henry and the kids, throwing Molotovs. Joel snipes the guy as he's about to throw, causing the interior to catch flame and the truck to crash gloriously

"Ethan you're okay right!?" asked Ellie as she held onto Ethan

"Yeah I'm fine, bullet just grazed me." answered Ethan reassuring Ellie

"You alright Sam?" asked Henry

"Yeah, I'm okay." answered Sam

"Alright. We did it." said Henry

"We should move." said Ellie who finally let go of Ethan

A few infected swarm at them, pinning down Henry and Sam

"Henry!" said Sam as he was pinned

"Shit." said Joel before snipping the infected off of Sam

Ellie shoots the infected off of Henry

"Sam, are you okay?" asked Henry as he crawled to Sam

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." answered Sam quickly

"You sure? You seem funny." said Henry

"C'mon, c'mon." said Ellie as she saw more infected coming

"Let's move!" said Henry

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up." said Joel as the group ran to him

Just then a huge wave of infected come

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Oh god…" said Joel as he saw all of the infected

He left the sniper and went downstairs to join the others

"Joel, you're okay." said Ellie

"Still here. You all okay?" asked Joel

"Yeah, I'm good. Nothing I can't fix later." answered Ethan clutching his arm

"Uh-uh." answered Sam

"I'm good." answered Henry

"Alright, I think it's time we quit this place. C'mon." said Joel

"Let's go." agreed Henry

They make it outside and escape through a loose piece of fence. A few hours later the group made it to the radio tower and are gathered around eating dinner, which consists of canned beans. Henry and Joel are talking while Ellie (who's leaning on Ethan) listens

"Shut the hell up." said Henry

"Dead serious. It was Tommy's birthday. That's all he wanted to do is just… rent two Harleys and drive cross country." said Joel

"Ah, man. I could die happy if I could just drive one around the block. What was it like?" asked Henry

"It was good. It was real good." answered Joel

"Good? Can you believe this guy? C'mon, man, gimme details. Describe it." said Henry looking at the new couple

"You know what? You two deserve a little privacy." said Ellie pulling herself and then helping Ethan up

"No, no, Ellie, Ethan, this isn't just any regular motorcycle, okay? You get on that bad boy, you feel that engine. Nothing like it." said Henry

"Oh yeah? How would you know?" asked Ellie

"I've seen it in my dreams… Vroom, vroom, vroom…" said Henry acting like he was driving a Harley

"Okay." said Ellie with a laugh

"Have fun you two." said Ethan

Ellie and Ethan go to see what Sam's up to

"I don't think anyone from our group's gonna show up." said Henry in regards to his old group

"Yeah." said Joel nodding

"Worst part about it all… explaining it to Sam." said Henry

Meanwhile, in the other room, Ellie and Ethan find Sam sitting at an old desk organizing supplies

"Well, it's safe to say those two have officially bonded." said Ellie

"What are you doing?" asked Ethan looking at the cans

"Taking stock of all the food we found today." answered Sam

"I see… and how are we doing on canned peaches?" asked Ellie grabbing and reading a can

"Did Henry send you two?" asked Sama as he took the can back

"No. Why would Henry send us?" asked Ellie

"To make sure I'm not fucking up somehow." said Sam

"Dude, don't worry. We did fine today, especially you." said Ethan

Sam silently goes to the window

"Well…" started Sam but stopped

"Is everything alright?" asked Ellie

"Everything's fine." answered Sam

"Okay… well… have a good night." said Ellie

"How is it that you two are never scared?" asked Sam

"Who says that we're not?" asked Ellie

"What're you scared of?" asked Sam

"Let's see… scorpions are pretty creepy. Um… being by myself. I'm scared of ending up alone." said Ellie

"Well you don't have to worry about that now." said Sam motioning between her and Ethan

They smiled and nodded in agreement, Ethan's expression also went up

"Ellie, don't forget about gnomes." said Ethan

Ellie giggled

"Oh yeah, gnomes." said Ellie still giggling

"Gnomes?" asked Sam

"She thinks gnomes are creepy." answered Ethan

"What about you?" asked Sam

"Umm… bugs, definitely bugs… and heights! Seriously, there was this one time where we were climbing this skyscraper. I honestly thought I was going to shit my pants." said Ethan

"What about you, Sam? What are you afraid of?" asked Ethan

"Those things out there. What if the people are still inside? What if they're trapped in there, without any control over their body? I'm scared of that happening to me." answered Sam

"Okay, first of all, we're a team now. We're gonna help each other out. And second, they might still look like people, but that person is not in there anymore." said Ellie

"Henry says that, "they've moved on." That they're with their families. Like in heaven. Do you think that's true?" asked Sam

"I go back and forth. I mean, I'd like to believe it." answered Ellie

"It's nice to have something to believe in, but it's hard to believe that god would let something like this happen." answered Ethan

"But you don't." said Sam

"I guess not." said Ellie with Ethan nodding weakly

"Yeah… me neither." muttered Sam

"Oh… all this serious talk, I almost forgot." said Ellie taking off her backpack

Ellie takes the robot from the Pittsburgh toy store out of her pack

"There. If he doesn't know about it, he can't take it away. Alright, I'm pooped. I'll see ya tomorrow." said Ellie

Ethan did a two-finger salute and left with Ellie. When they leave Sam throws the toy on the ground and looks at the wound on his leg, sustained on the sniper's street.

The next morning…

"Mhmm…" muttered Ethan as he woke up

Ethan went to lean up, but was pinned. He looked to his left and saw Ellie hugging his arm and cuddling with him. Ethan blushed realizing they must have moved closer to each other while they were sleeping. Ellie opens her eyes and sees Ethan looking down on her, she smiles, but stops when she realizes what position there in. They both blush and look away before looking back to each other

"Nice way to wake up." admitted Ethan with a small smile

"Can't disagree with that." agreed Ellie

They both got up and left the room

"Damn. That smells good." said Ellie once she and Ethan entered the main room

"Good morning." said Joel

"Good morning." said Ethan

"Where's Sam?" asked Ellie

"I let him sleep in for once." answered Henry

"Oh." said Ellie

"Well if you want him to join us, you can go wake his ass up." said Henry

"Okay." said Ellie about to get up

Ethan puts his hand on Ellie's

"Its fine I'll do it." said Ethan

Ellie nodded and Ethan left to get Sam. Ethan enters Sam's room to see him standing there, twitching

"Sam? Sam, you alright?" asked Ethan getting closer

Sam turns around to reveal he's infected

"Oh shit!" shouted Ethan before Sam grabs him

"What the hell?" said Joel hearing Ethan's shout

Joel, Henry, and Sam stand up to see what's going on, before Ethan comes trying to push Sam off

"Sam! Sam it's me! It's Ethan!" shouted Ethan struggling to keep Sam from biting him

"Shit! He's turning!" shouted Joel before going to his pack

Henry fires a warning shot when Joel reaches for his gun

"That's my fucking brother!" shouted Henry in protest

"Ethan!" shouted Ellie reaching for her gun

Henry points his gun at Ellie warning her. Joel turns to see Ethan falling to ground, still struggling to keep Sam off

"Screw it!" hissed Joel reaching for his gun again

Henry fires again, this time killing Sam

"Oh, fuck…" muttered Ethan backing up from Sam rapidly

"Ethan? Ethan, are you alright?" asked Joel

Ethan weakly nodded staring at Sam's body, Ellie went over to Ethan

"Sam?" said Henry on the verge of tears

"Oh no…" said Ellie

"Sam…" said Henry again as tears start to stream down his face

"Henry. Ellie, Ethan, stay where you are. Henry." said Joel slowly approaching Henry

"Henry, what have you done?" whispered Henry to himself

"I'm gonna get that gun from you, okay?" said Joel

"Sa… Sa… Sam…" said Henry pointing his gun at Joel

"Whoa. Okay, okay, easy." said Joel raising his hands

"It's your fault." said Henry

"This is nobody's fault, Henry." said Joel

"It's all your fault!" shouted Henry

"Henry! Henry, no…" said Joel

Henry turns the gun on himself

"HENRY NO!" screamed Ethan before Henry shot himself

"Oh my god." breathed Ellie

End of Chapter 5

Yeah… sorry for the bittersweet ending of Ellie and Ethan getting together, but Sam and Henry die. And sorry if the characters were OOC.


End file.
